CIHM 
Microfiche 
Series 
(■Monographs) 


ICMH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographies) 


Canadian  Instituta  for  Hiatorical  Microraproductiona  /  Institut  Canadian  da  microraproductiona  hiatoriquaa 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  techniques  et  bibllographlques 


Th«  Institute  has  attempted  to  olMain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographicaily  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below. 


El 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


□  Covers  damaged  / 
Couverture  endommagte 

□  Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restaur^  et/ou  pellicula 

Cover  title  missing  /  Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  gtographiques  en  couleur 

nn  Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)  / 
lLJ  Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

□  Cotoured  plates  and/or  illustrattons  / 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

□   Bound  with  other  material  / 
Reli^  avec  d'autres  documents 

Only  edition  available  / 
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Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion  along 
interior  margin  /  La  rellure  serrte  peut  causer  de 
I'ombre  ou  de  la  distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge 
int^rieure. 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restorations  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have  been 
omitted  from  filming  /  Use  peut  que  ceriainespmges 
blanches  ajout^es  tors  d'une  restauration 
apparaissent  dans  le  texte,  mais,  lorsque  cela  dtait 
possible,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  M  filmtes. 

Addittonal  comments  / 
Commentaires  suppi^mentaires: 


n 


L'Instltut  a  microfilm*  le  mellleur  exemplaire  qj'il  lui  a 
«ti  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details  de  cat  exem- 
plaire qui  sent  peut-«tr«  uniques  du  point  da  vue  bibli- 
ogiapNque,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image  reproduite, 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modifteatton  dana  la  m«tho- 
de  normale  de  filmage  sont  indkiute  d-dessous. 

I     I  CokHjred  pages/ Pages  de  couleur 

I I  Pages  damaged/ Pages  endommag^es 

□  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Pages  restaurtes  et/ou  peilkuji^es 

□  Pages  discotoured,  stained  or  foxed  / 
Pages  ddcoiordes,  tachet^es  ou  pkiu^es 

I     I  Pages  detached/ Pages  d^tach^es 

[•I  Showthrough/ Transparence 

I     j  Quality  of  print  varies/ 


D 
D 


D 


Quality  in^gaie  de  I'lmpresskm 

Includes  supplementary  material  / 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppldmentaire 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata  slips, 
tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  totalement  ou 
partiellement  obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'enata,  une 
pelure,  etc..  ont  6X6  filmdes  &  nouveau  de  fa^on  k 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 

Opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 
discokMjrattons  are  filmed  twk»  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  s'opposant  ayant  des 
colorations  variables  ou  des  dteolorations  sont 
film^es  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la  meineure  image 
possible. 


D 


TMt  Ktm  Is  fflmtd  at  tlw  raduetion  ratio  clwekMl  btlow  / 

C«  docunwnt  tat  ttlmA  ati  laux  da  rMuctien  imUqu*  ei*daa8eua. 


lOx 

14x 

18x 

22x 

26x 

30x 

v/ 

1 

12x 

16x 

20x 

24x 

28x 

»9v 

The  copy  fiimtd  h«r«  has  bon  raproducvd  thanks 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

NatloMi  Library  of  Caiwds 


L'axamplaira  filmA  fut  raproduit  grica  k  la 
g4n«resitA  da: 

BIbllothlqiM  Mtloiwla  du  Canada 


Tha  imagaa  appaaring  haro  ara  tha  baat  quality 
posk«dla  eonsidaring  tha  cenditlen  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  Icaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacif icationa. 

Original  eopiaa  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  filmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  iiiuatratad  impraa- 
sion.  or  tha  baeli  covar  whan  apprepriata.  All 
othar  original  eopiaa  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  whh  a  printad  or  iiiuatratad  impraa- 
sion.  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  %with  a  printad 
or  iiiuatratad  impraasion. 


Tha  laat  racordad  frama  on  aaeh  microfiche 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  -♦-  (maaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  V  (maaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appiias. 

Mapa.  piatas.  charts,  ate.  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratios.  Thosa  too  larga  to  ba 
antiraiy  included  in  ona  axposura  ara  filmad 
bagirning  in  tha  uppar  iaft  hand  corner,  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framaa  as 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diagrams  iiiustrata  tha 
method: 


Las  images  suivantes  ont  4t*  reproduites  svec  te 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  nettet«  de  rexemplaira  film*,  et  en 
conformM  avac  lea  conditiona  du  contrat  da 
fiimaga. 

Lea  axemplalrea  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
pepier  eet  imprim4e  sent  filmis  en  commen^ant 
par  la  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniAre  paga  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
dimpression  ou  d'iliustrstlon.  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Toua  las  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmte  en  commen^ant  par  la 
pramiAre  paga  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
dimpression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  ^erminant  par 
la  darhiire  paga  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symboles  suivants  appareftra  sur  la 
darniire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
ces:  le  symbole  -^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE".  le 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  csrtes.  planches.  Mbleaux.  etc..  peuvent  «tre 
filmis  A  des  taux  da  reduction  diffirents. 
Lorsque  ie  document  est  trop  grand  pour  itre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich«.  ii  est  film*  i  psrtir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  geuche.  de  gauche  i  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas.  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imegea  nicassaira.  Les  diegrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithoda. 


1 

2 

3 

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2 

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4 

5 

6 

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(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


1.1 


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■  2.2 

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■■■ 

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12.0 

/APPLIED  IM/<GE    Inc 

16S]  East  Main  Streel 

Rochester.   New  Yorfc        U6O0       USA 

(716)  *»1  -O300-Phori« 

(718)  2BS  -  5989  -  Fan 


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THE  OOVEBNICENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


mum 


IIHI 


>^V 


im  MACMIIXAN  COMrAMT 


MACHILLAN  ft  CO,  twin* 
Minaii-  MiiMv- CMC»fM 

THB  MACMILLAM  Ca  OF  CAMAI)*.  Imk 


THE 

GOVERNMENT  O?  AMERICAN 

CITIES 


Br 


WILLIAM  BENNETT  MUNRO,  Ph.D.,  LL.B. 


«  UAMTAMa  mnraauvT 


Nib  Hfttk 

THE  B£ACMILLAN  C0»  %MY 

1912 

AU  rigkU  rumtd 


r 


»,  tni. 

>r  THI  MACUILLAI  OOMrAVT. 


rrttelMd  NovraiWr.  i«Hk 


J.  S.  OuUiw  Co.  -  Bwwiek  *  Bnttb  Co. 
Bonraod,  Ifau.,  U.B.A. 


^MonioiiMd  institationa  oonatituts  the  stnngth  of  fraa 
nations.  A  nation  may  eaUbliah  a  system  of  tree  govern- 
ment, bat  without  municipal  institutions  it  cannot  have  the 
spirit  of  liberty." 

•—  AuxiB  DK  TocQUEViUK,  Democracy  in  America,  i,  76. 


f 


PREFACE 


The  aim  of  this  volume  is  to  describe,  in  a  summaty 
way,  the  machinery  of  city  government  in  the  United 
States.     In  its  various  chapters  an  endeavor  has  been 
made  to  outline  the  growth  of  American  cities,  to  explain 
the  present-day  powers  and  duties  of  the  city  as  a  municipal 
corporation,  to  describe  the  different  organs  of  municq>al 
government,  and  to  make  clear  the  relations  which  these 
bear  to  one  another.     The  book  deals  with  government 
rather  than  with  administration,  with  the  framework  rather 
than  with  the  functioning  mechanism  of  the  municipal 
organization.     This  is  not  because  the  latter  is  in  any  sense 
regarded  as  the  less  important  of  the  two;   but  merely 
because  it  is  proposed  to  deal  fully  with  that  phase  of  the 
subject  in  a  later  volume. 

Even  as  respects  governmental  organization,  moreover 
no  attempt  has  been  made  to  cover  every  point  in  fuU 
detaa.  I  have  tried  to  do  no  more  than  to  provide,  both 
for  the  college  student  of  municipal  government  and  for  the 
general  reader,  an  introduction  to  the  study  of  a  veiy  lar^e 
and  unportant  subject.  Those  who  desire  more  definite  or 
more  extensive  information  than  the  text  contains  wiU  find 
some  suggestions  at  the  end  of  each  chapter. 

In  an  age  when  men  appear  far  too  ready  to  proceed 
with  a  diagnosis  and  to  prescribe  remedies  without  much 
prehminaiy  study  of  the  amitomy  and  the  physiology  of 
crty  government  too  much  stress  upon  the  importance  of 
the  latter  branches  of  the  subject  can  scarcely  be  laid  At 
any  rate  we  have  heard  so  much  in  recent  years  concerning 
what  the  government  of  American  cities  ought  to  be  thatia 

Tii 


viii 


PREFACE 


apology  is  hardty  necessary  for  the  emphasis  which  this 
volume  places  upon  what  their  government  really  is. 

Dealing  as  they  do  with  institutions  that  are  continually 
in  process  of  change,  these  chapters  must  inevitably  contain 
some  mis-statements  of  fact  and  many  errors  of  opinion. 
I  hope  that  they  are  no  more  numerous  than  the  complic- 
ities of  the  subject  render  pardonable.  In  any  event  I  .un 
deeply  grateful  for  the  generous  assistance  that  has  been 
given  me  from  various  sources  in  securing  the  data  neces- 
sary for  the  writing  of  the  book.  To  Professors  Merriam, 
Fairlie,  Hatton,  and  Hormell  I  am  under  obligations  for  their 
kindness  in  reading  portions  of  the  proof  and  for  many 
useful  suggestions.  Dr.  Adna  F.  Weber  of  New  York  and 
Mr.  Charles  Warren  of  Boston  were  also  kind  enough  to 
give  me  the  benefit  of  their  counsel  on  several  difficult 
points.  To  the  Hon.  John  A.  Sullivan,  Chairman  of  the 
Boston  Finance  Commission  I  am  glad  to  express  my 
gratitude  for  keeping  me  clear  of  many  pitfalls  and  for 
the  privilege  of  drawing  so  freely  upon  his  comprehensive 
store  of  sure  information  on  all  matters  relating  to  the 
practical  workings  of  American  government.  Miss  A.  F. 
Rowe  and  Miss  Alice  Holden  of  Cambridge  have  given 
loyal  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  the  manuscript  for 
the  press. 

WILLIAM  BENNETT  MUNRO. 

October  1. 1912. 


CONTENTS 


L    AitaRicAN  MxTNiapAL  DavaLonoNT 
II.    The  Social  STBucrnBi  of  thb  Citt 

III.  The  Citt  and  the  State 

IV.  MCNICIPAL  POWEBS  AND  ReSPONSIBIUTIBB 

V.    The  Mvnictpal  Electobatb    . 

Municipal  Nominations  and  Electionb 
Municipal  Pabtieb  and  Poutics    . 
VIII.    The  Cut  Counctl    .... 

IX.    The  Matob 

Tee  Aohinistbativb  Dbpabtventb 
MuNiaPAL  Officials  and  EbiPLOTEES 
Citt  Govebnment  bt  a  CounssioN 
DiBECT  Legislation  and  the  Recall 
Municipal  Rbfobm  and  Refobhebs 

INDEX 


VI. 
VII. 


X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 


1 

29 

53 
80 
102 
125 
153 
180 
207 
237 
265 
2M 
821 
358 


mM^mi 


ERRATA 

On  p.  68  (footnote)  fop  funo  eorutitution  read 
amended  corutituHon. 
On  p.  163  (footnote)  for  Myer's  read  Afj/wt*. 


G0VEROTO3NT  OF  AMERIOAJS" 
CITIES 


CHAPTER  I 

AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DaVBLOPMENT 

The  mastery  of  any  field  of  poUtical  sdenee  involvei 
some  knowledge  of  institutional  history.    Only  by  know- 
ing, at  least  in  a  general  way,  what  has  gone  befoi«  can  one 
grasp  the  motives  that  have  guided  a  peopl    to  its  con- 
temporary political  machineiy,  whether  national  or  local; 
and  only  thereby  can  one  reach  a  pfoper  understanding  of 
what  future  development  the  political  features  of  a  coun- 
try are  likely  to  have.    American  municipal  institutions, 
of  one  form  or  another,  have  now  put  behind  them  two 
and  a  quarter  centuries  of  history.    This  histoiy  covers  a 
great  variety  of  experiments  in  local  government;    there 
is  scarcely  a  feature  of  popular  administration  that  has 
not  at  some  time  been  tried  in  one  or  more  of  our  cities  or 
towns.    The  countries  of  Europe  have  not  made  great 
changes  in  their  machinery  of  municipal  government  dur- 
ing the  past  half-centuiy;  in  this  field  America  has  been 
the  world's  chief  laboratory  for  political  experimentation. 
Though  costly,  the  experiments  have  been  instructive,  and 
have  in  the  end  led  to  notable  improvements  in  the  admin- 
istration of  municipal  affairs.    By  a  study  of  the  steps 
through  which  the  present  framework  of  American  city 


3 


OOVBRNMENT  OF  AMBRICAN  CITII8 


Borough* 
of  the 
colonial  era. 


government  has  been  evolved  one  may  come  to  undentand 
the  chief  features  which  characterize  it  at  the  present  day. 

The  beginnings  of  the  American  municipal  system  are 
to  be  found  in  the  incorporation  of  the  colonial  boroughs 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  thii 
New  York  was  the  pioneer,  receiving  its  first  city  charter 
from  Governor  Dongan  in  1686.»  Albany  foUowed  a  few 
months  later  in  the  same  year,  its  first  charter  being  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  that  granted  to  New  York.  Both 
charters  continued  in  force  until  the  Revolution.  Other 
rising  colonial  to^  as  received  similar  recognition  in  due 
course,  —  Philadelphia  in  1691,»  Annapolis  in  1696,»  Nor- 
folk in  1736,*  Richmond  in  1742,»  and  Trenton,  the  last  of 
the  colonial  list,  in  1746.»  A  dozen  others  of  less  impoi^ 
tance  scattered  through  the  Middle  and  Southern  colonies 
also  obtained  their  charters  during  this  interval.  There 
were  no  active  chartered  boroughs  in  the  New  England 
colonies,  for  there  the  system  of  town  government  seemed 
to  be  sufficient  and  satisfactory.^    In  Mascachusetts  no  city 

« A  burgher  government,  after  the  model  of  that  maintained  in  the  free 
eities  of  Holland,  had  been  established  by  Governor  Stuyveeant  in  1653  •  but 
m  IWa  the  town  passed  into  English  hands  and  the  government  was  chaiiged 
to  that  of  an  Engbsh  municipal  corporation,  though  no  formal  charter  was 
issued.  Dongan  granted  a  formal  document  in  1686  at  the  request  of  the 
mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  town.  This  charter,  which  in  ita  printed  form 
covers  only  fourteen  pages,  is  still  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  comp- 

^%\,r  y°'^  ^"y-  ^  *^Py  °"*y  ^  '"""'J  '^  tJ>e  f^oionial  Laws  of 
New  York  (5  vols  New  York,  1897).  1. 181.  Some  doubts  having  arisen  aa 
to  the  vahdity  of  this  charter,  it  was  reissued  under  the  royal  seal  in  1730. 
This  confirmation,  wWch  made  no  very  important  changes,  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Montgomery  charter.     It  may  be  found  ibid.,  11  575 

» The  Philadelphia  charter  of  1691  was  replaced  by  a  new  one,  granted 
by  Fenn  in  1701,  which  remained  in  operation  till  1776. 

'  David  Ridgely,  AnnaU  of  Annaptdit  (Baltimore,  1841)  89 

l8lZl^hlv''^^l  '^  ^'"  ^'^'  ^'  ^'  ^*'^'  "  ''°^-'  ^""^  ^°'^'  «*«•• 

!  i^^i,  ^^•*^-     *  New  Jersey  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  IX.  152. 

Sir  Fernando  Gorges  gave  borough  charters  to  Agamenticas  and 

Itittery,  two  Maine  hamlets,  in  1641  and  1647  respectively;    but  no 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DBVKLOPMBNT  8 

charter  was  granted  prior  to  the  Boston  charter  of  1822, 
and  this  change  was  made  only  because  the  community 
had  become  too  populous  to  be  any  longer  governed  as  a 
town,  and  not  because  new  corporate  powers  were  needed ;  * 
for  the  New  England  town  had,  without  any  specific  grant, 
substantially  all  the  powers  and  privileges  that  a  borough 
charter  could  confer.*  The  town  required  no  charter  to 
give  it  powers,  and  desired  none  to  set  Umitations  upon  local 
freedom. 

From  first  to  last  the  governors  of  the  thirteen  colonies  ch«t« 
gave  charters  to  twenty  boroughs,  or  cities,  as  some  places  fcf!?^ 
were  caUed  from  the  outset.'  Fifteen  of  these  were  pUces 
of  considerable  importance.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the 
charters  were  given  by  the  governors  and  not  by  the  coloni;' 
kgislatures,  a  local  adaptation  of  the  practice  existing  in 
England,  where  the  incorporation  of  boroughs  was  always 
made  by  royal  grant  rather  than  by  act  of  Parhament. 
The  governor  apparently  acted  upon  the  request  of  the 

n^nidiMd  governmenti  appear  to  have  been  organized  under  them 
p^nta  Thew  charter,  may  be  found  in  Ebenexer  Hazard's  ffW^ 
CoUeetton,  (2  vols..  PhiladelpUa,  1792-1794),  I.  470  480^     "*toneal 

tl.«r^HS!l?"^!*°°  °'  ^*°°  *°  ^^  ^  P~«^  ^  40,000  mark,  and 
tt^equahlled  vote™  numbered  about  7000.  "When  a  to;n.mS  I« 
iSL  *»y  «««?«  '"bi^ct  in  Paneuil  HaU.  those  only  who  SLS 
place,  near  the  moderator  could  even  hear  the  diwuMion.  A  few  bu^S 
intere.ted  mdividuaU  easily  obtained  the  managemenfof  Ihe  mo.Um 
portant  affairs,  in  an  a«embly  in  which  theater  numb«rcouW  hive 
neither  vo.ce  nor  hearing.  When  the  subject*^  not^e^y  e^cifji 
iTiS^Tv Tfrr'"."!" f  "T?"'^  «'  '"^^  Belectmen.'^TZi^S^' 

forZ^Lr^^  which  the  New  EngUnd  town,  posiwssed  without  any 

K«^''-^t'^*^.^^  °'  *~**  *"<*  '*«*»^'  °»»y  b«  toimd  in  J.  A.  Pairlie'. 
E»av,  .«  Municipal  Adminulralion  (New  York.  1908)  ch.  y  •  S»  l« 
«.  e»ayon  "Municipal  Corporations.  1701-1901."  4 RwiJ^  Tt^ 


OOVntNMBNT  OF  AimuCAN  CITIIS 


burgenet,  or  InluibitMitt,  uid  th«  duurten  were  lometimfle 
■ubmitted  to  the  latter  for  their  Meeptance  before  being  put 
into  operation.  In  the  drafting  of  theee  eharten  no  nngle 
model  waa  followed.  In  general,  however,  all  the  boroughs 
were  provided  with  a  frame  of  government  which  approxi- 
mated that  of  the  English  miuJcipal  corporation  in  the  daya 
before  the  epoch  of  reform.  In  each  case  proviaion  was 
made  for  a  governing  body,  to  which  were  given  the  cor- 
porate powers  of  the  community.  This  governing  body, 
usually  styled  "the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty" 
of  the  borouc^,  consisted  of  a  single  council  made  up  of  a 
mayor,  a  small  number  of  aldermen,  and  a  larger  number 
of  councihnen,  all  sitting  together.  Except  in  the  three 
close  corporations,  Annapolis,  Norfolk,  and  Philadelphia,  the 
councihnen  were  chosen  at  regular  intervals  by  popular  vote, 
acd  so  were  the  aldermen,  as  a  rule;  but  the  mayor  was 
commonly  named  by  the  governor  of  the  colony.  There 
were,  in  addition,  some  other  borough  officers,  such  as  the 
recorder  and  the  treasurer.  None  of  these  had  to  perform 
burdensome  administrative  tasks;  for  the  boroughs  were 
small,  and  provided  for  their  inhabitants  no  public  sovices 
of  account.  Boston  was,  from  its  foundation  in  1630  until 
after  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  most  popu- 
lous community  in  the  New  World.  Philadelphia  then 
took  the  lead,  and  retained  it  till  after  the  Revolution.* 
On  the  eve  of  the  Revolutionary  War  there  were  only  five 
cities  and  towns  with  populations  exceeding  8000,  and  the 
combined  strength  of  these  was  less  than  100,000.«  When 
it  is  remembered  that  these  five  places  contained  less  than 
three  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the  thirteen  colonies, 

.  >  In  1700  the  population  of  Boston  mw  6700,  of  FUUdelphi*  4400,  of 
New  York  about  4600.    In  1760  the  Uganm  stood,  Philadelphia  18,756, 
Bolton  15,631,  and  New  York  about  14,000.    See  Bureau  of  the  Cenmu, 
A  Centura  of  Population  Grovlh,  1790-1900  (Waahington,  lOOd)  11-12 
» Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boeton,  CJharlertoii,  and  Newport. 


AlimOAN  MUNICIPAL  MVILOPIilNT  $ 

the  Urge  put  which  their  eOLviM  took  in  the  military  and 
poUtical  events  of  the  war  period  beoomee  the  more  remark- 
able. Even  at  this  time  the  urban  population  was  doing 
more  than  its  proportionate  share  in  moulding  the  eourse 
of  national  development. 

The  successful  outcome  of  the  Revolution  and  the  adop-  mm 
Hon  of  the  new  sUte  constitutions  served  to  bring  about  £" 
great  changes  in  both  the  form  and  the  spirit  of  municipal 
government.    Municipal  charters  were  henceforth  granted, 
not  by  the  governor  alone,  but  by  the  stote  legisUture. 
other  words,  the  city  charter  became  a  statute,  which  mig 
be  amended  or  repealed  like  any  other  statute.    This  i 
volved  a  radical  change  in  the  relation  existing  between  * 
municipaKty  and  the  stote.    Under  the  regime  of  to 
charters  the  municipalities  enjoyed  almost  entire  freed* 
from  legisUtive  interference;   under  the  new  dispensat 
they  were  completely  under  the  domination  of  the  st 
legislature.    Wth  the  aftermath  of  the  Revolution,  aee^    .- 
ingly,  one  finds  the  way  thrown  open  for  that  virtual  e«t  .»t- 
tion  of  municipal  home  rule  which  characterised  the  ritual,,  n 
in  American  cities  during  the  latter  half  of  the  ninetee^k 
century.* 

Some  of  the  boiou|^  that  had  received  charters  ^ore  ,sm^ 
1776  abandoned  them  after  the  Revolution  and  received  Ife !«, 
new  grants  from  the  legislaturbs  of  their  respective  states. 
These  new  municipal  constitutions  differed  considerably 
from  the  old  ones.  The  old  idea  of  the  borou^  as  a  "close 
corporation"  was  discarded,  for  instance,  the  new  order 
resting  upon  the  idea  that  admission  to  citisenship  should 
be  made  easy  and  that  the  officials  of  borough  government 
should  be  elected.  The  charter  of  Philadelphia  issued  in 
1789  affords  a  good  example  of  the  change  which  was  taking 


»  See  below,  pp.  71-72. 


OOVIKNIIBNT  OF  AMBBICAW  Oimi 


%• 


Influeneeof 

thefeddnU 

•nalonr. 


piMe  in  ih«  tpMi  of  munidp*!  gov«nun«nt.*  By  ito  pro- 
visioni  the  govenunent  of  the  dty  wm  veeted  in  the  hude 
ot  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  common  eouneillon,  aitting 
together  in  one  body.  Fifteen  aldermen  were  to  be  elected 
for  a  aeven-year  term  by  the  ownen  of  freehold  property, 
and  thirty  oommon-councilmen  were  to  be  choaen  for  a 
three-year  term  by  the  "freemen."  These  together  made 
up  the  city  ooundl.  The  mayor  was  to  be  chosen  by  the 
aldermen  ->m  among  their  own  number,  his  post  to  be  no 
more  than  that  of  a  presiding  officer.  Such  officials  as 
might  from  time  to  time  be  found  necessary  were  to  be 
ehosen  by  the  council. 

The  decade  in  which  this  charter  was  granted  has  been 
very  property  termed  the  critical  period  of  American  hi»* 
tory.  In  municipal  development  it  was  a  time  of  special 
crisis,  an  epoch  of  transition  from  the  old  English  to  the 
new  American  type  of  urban  government.  The  disap- 
pearance of  political  privilege  and  the  making  of  local  gov- 
ernment essentially  representative  are  the  outstanding 
features  of  the  Philadelphia  document.  In  the  frame  of 
government  which  it  provided  only  slight  departures  from 
the  English  model  were  made.  Other  city  charten  of  the 
period  were  of  the  same  general  t3rpe,  diverging  more  in 
spirit  than  in  form  from  those  of  the  colonial  era.  They 
paved  the  way,  however,  for  the  charters  which  came  at 
the  threshold  of  the  new  century,  and  which  embodied 
the  more  important  ideas  concerning  governmental  organi- 
sation that  had  been  recognized  in  the  national  and  state 
const  I^ution8. 

In  these  constitutions  two  or  three  salient  features  stand 

out  prominently.    Chief  among  them,  of  course,  is  the 

«  The  ohtttOT  of  1789  ii  printed  in  Lam  of  Uu  CommonwuUk  of  P«im». 
n*wnto  (ed.  A.  J.  DiOIh,  2  v«dfc.  Philaddphi*,  1793-1797).  A  snmmary 
of  ita  proTidou  it  given  by  E.  P.  Alliion  tad  B<rfet  Pttniow,  Histoni  at 
PhOadaphia  (FUkdelpUm  1887).  flO-flS. 


AMBUOAN  MUNICIPAI.  DI7IL0PMINT  7 

priadple  of  divktod  powir%  or  of  eheeki  rad  K^inntm^  ^ 
in  other  word*,  th«  doetriao  tluit  eieeutive  and  kgiilatif* 
authority  ihould  be  vwtad  in  MfMnto  and  indepondrat 
hMidfc  Other  featurw  that  may  be  regwded  ••  eofolUriM 
to  tUi  hmdar  ental  axiom  wen  the  use  of  the  exeeutive 
veto,  the  ertabUihment  of  double-ohamberad  legislatuiei, 
and  the  intrufting  of  eome  executive  funotioni  to  the  upper 
of  theee  two  chambers.  Sinoe  these  new  and  native  prin- 
dples  of  political  orgaaiiation  were  sanctioned  in  the  organie 
laws  of  sUte  and  nation,  it  was  only  natural  that  they 
Aould  make  their  way  into  th«t  orgauie  Uws  of  the  dtics. 
The  dominating  factor  in  tbi  dopment  of  municipal 
framework  during  the  firtt  ^  of  the  nineteenth  centuiy 

was,  accordingly,  the  inT     ace  of  the  federal  analogy. 
The  charters  represented  the  attempt,  on  the  psrt  of  those 
who  framed  them,  to  impoee  upon  the  cities  a  minUture  of 
that  plan  which  on  a  broader  scale  had  won  the  confidence 
of  the  electorate.    ExoeUent  examples  of  this  procedure 
m^  be  found  in  the  Baltimore  charter  of  1796 »  and  the 
Detrort  charter  of  1806.    In  Baltimore  provision  was  made 
for  the  election  of  the  mayor  by  an  electoral  coUege,  and  for 
a  two-chambered  city  councU,  one  branch  exactly  repre- 
senting the  eight  wards  of  the  city  by  giving  them  two 
aldermen  each,  the  other  representing  the  citisens  at  Urge. 
Although  in  the  distribution  of  powera  the  national  model 
was  not  exactly  followed,  the  influence  of  this  analogy  upon 
the  general  make-up  of  city  government  is  clearly  apparent. 
American  municipal  development  had  taken  a  course  of  its 
own,  cutting  somewhat  adrift  from  earUer  English  influences. 

It  long  since  became  apparent  to  thoughtful  men  that  n. 
this  radical  swerve  was  unwise  in  its  day  and  unfortunate  ~ 
m  Its  consequences.    No  t  n,  t^!!!  deny,  of  course,  that  the 
framers  of  the  national  oons  ;itu\o.<  lu\d  defensible  ground 

»  Lawt  ef  I  'orvJond,  1796,  oh  68. 


8 


GOViatNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


for  the  recognition  which  they  gave,  in  their  great  work, 
to  the  principle  of  divorcing  administrative  from  legislative 
functions,  and  for  their  action  in  establishing  a  bicameral 
legislature.    Nor  are  the  framers  of  the  state  constitutions 
to  be  criticised  for  having  followed  along  the  same  lines. 
Although  a  century  of  experience  has  led  many  to  the  belief 
that,  as   a  working  principle  of   government,  the  much- 
vaunted  doctrine  of  separation  of  powers  is  a  delusion  and  a 
snare,  yet  in  the  days  when  it  first  gained  recognition  in 
American  state  and  national   administration  there  were 
many  convincing  arguments  of  a  practical  sort  that  could 
.  be  put  forward  in  its  behalf.    In  the  field  of  municipal 
government,  however,  the  doctrine  of  divided  powers  never 
had  a  single  sound  prop  to  rest  upon.    Its  chief  professed 
virtue,  that  of  providing  a  bulwark  against  executive  or 
legislative  usurpations  to  the  detriment   of  civU   Uberty, 
can  have  relevance  only  in  dealings  with  an  ultimate  po- 
litical power.    Those  who  design  the  structure  of  subordi- 
nate governments  need  not  make  the  liberty  of  the  subject 
their  first  care;    that  is  the  responsibility  of  those  who 
mould  the  frame  of  higher  authority  in  state  and  nation. 
If  these  have  done  their  work  rightly,  the  subordination  of 
municipal  to  state  government  deprives  the  former  of  all 
the  elements  of  permanent  danger.    Bui,  that  was  not  the 
viewpoint  of  those  who  framed  American  city  charters  in 
the   quarteiMjentury  following  the   establishment   of  the 
federal  constitution.    The  principle  of  administrative  and 
legislative  autonomy  became  a  fetich;    it  gained  ready 
recognition  everywhere,  and  determined  the  main  channel 
of  later  municipal  development.,   The  autonomous  mayoi^ 
alty,  the  bicameral  council,  the  executive  veto,  and  the 
practice  of  aldermanic  confirmation,  —  all  of  them  native 
institutions,  and  all  attributable  to  the  influence  of  national 
theories  upon  local  government,  —  made  their  appearance 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  9 

before  the  period  closed.  The  first  charter  of  Boston, 
adopted  in  1822,  with  its  provision  for  a  mayor  directly 
elected  by  the  votere,  shows  quite  clearly  another  positive 
drift  of  the  age.* 

During  this  period  (1790-1826)  the  cities  of  the  United  Grawtbof 
States  had  made  notable  progress  in  number,  in  popula-  uSiuX 
tion,  and  in  the  scope  of  their  municipal  activities.    In  a  **°^ 
new  country,  as  an  authoritative  writer  on  the  distribution 
of  population  has  pointed  out,  the  rapid  growth  of  cities 
is  both  natural  and  necessary;   for  no  efficient  industrial 
organization  of  a  new  settlement  is  possible  unless  there 
are  industrial  centres  to  carry  on  the  work  of  assembling 
and  distributing  goods.'    In  1790  there  were  but  five  com^ 
munities  in  the  country  with  populations  exceeding  8000,  — 
namely,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Baltimore,  Ind 
Charleston.    These  together  contained  sUghtly  more  than 
130,000  inhabitants,  or  less  than  three  and  one-half  per 
cent  of  the  nation's  population.    In  1820  the  number  of 
cities  with  8000  people  or  more  had  nearly  trebled;  there 
were  now  thirteen,  containing  together  nearly  half  a  million 
inhabitants.    New  York,  the  largest  of  them,  had  passed 
the  100,000  mark,  and  was  expending  an  annual  budget 
amounting  to  about  a  dollar  per  capita.    Boston  on  its 
admission  to  cityhood  in  1822  contained  over  40,000  in- 
habitants, a  number  which  rendered  the  continuance  of  the 
town-meeting  a  physical  impossibility. 

Growth  in  population  brought  serious  beginnings  in  n- 
mumcipal  services.  In  1825  New  York  had  the  rudiments  '^ 
of  a  poUce  system,  the  city  being  divided  into  three  dis- 

T  w^"*.  *^  ^«««*«««».  1822,  eh.  no.    A>  pointed  oat  by  PM««»i. 
Yoit'imUx!''  ''*'  ^'"^  ^  ««»  *•  *•  Nineteenth  Cnt,^  (New 


10 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


The  ante- 

beiluiF. 

period. 


tricts,  to  each  of  which  constables  were  assigned  for  duty; 
it  was  not  tiU  1837,  however,  that  a  regular  system  of  day 
patrols   was    instituted.    A   water-supply   service,   estab- 
lished by  Aaron  Burr  and  his  associates  under  their  famous 
charter,  was  also  in  operation,  and  served  the  city,  though 
not  very  satisfactorily,  till  the  Croton  supply  became  avail- 
able in  1842.    In  most  of  the  larger  towns  pubUc  sewers 
began  to  be  erected  to  supersede  the  drains  owned  by  in- 
dividuals;   pubUc  hghting  of  the  streets,  at  first  by  oU 
lamps  but  later  by  gas,  became  common;  and  some  atten- 
tion was  being  paid  to  the  cleaning  of  streets.*    Raised 
footways  or  sidewalks,  usuaUy  of  cobble-stones  but  some- 
times of  boards,  were  built  in  the  main  thoroughfares  of 
the  larger  municipaUties.    Fire  protection  was  undertaken 
by  volunteer  companies;   the  system  of  pubUc  education 
was  formulating  itself  slowly;  and  in  some  pkces  land 
was  being  set  aside  for  recreation  grounds.    All  in  all,  a 
good  beginning  in  the  provision  of  the  chief  municipal 
services  was  made  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

The  third  period  in  American  municipal  development, 
extending  from  about  1825  to  the  close  of  the  Civil  War, 
witnessed  the  elaboration  of  those  administrative  principles 
which  had  gained  recognition  in  the  preceding  era.  The 
new  charter  of  New  York,  enacted  in  1830,  showed  the 
direction  in  which  the  tide  was  running.'  It  divided  the 
city  council  into  two  chambers,  and  explicitly  stated  that 
this  action  was  taken  in  order  that  the  principles  upon 
which  the  national  government  was  based  might  be  recog^ 
nized.    By  this  charter  the  mayor  was  invested  with  the 

» A  ■yitem  of  publio  mmen  wm  ertablhhed  in  Borton  in  1823 ;  publio 
hKhtang  of  the  atreeta  had  been  euried  on  long  prior  to  thia  date,  but 
bgh^  by  saa  waa  not  introduoed  tiU  1834.  See  Nathan  Mattbewi. 
The  CUy  Oovemmmt  of  Botton  (Beaton,  1896),  59, 97. 

•  J.  A.  Furlie,  Mwtieiptd  AdministraHon,  83. 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


U 


nght  to  veto  any  order  or  resolution  of  the  council,  his 
veto  to  be  overridden  only  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both 
chambers.    Up  to  this  time  the  pubUc  services  of  the  city 
had,  so  far  as  they  went,  been  managed  by  the  councU 
through  Its  committees.    The  unsatisfactory  character  of 
this  method  was  evidently  becoming  apparent,  however; 
for  the  new  charter  provided  that  these  services  should 
thenceforth   be  intrusted  to   administrative    officials   ap- 
pomted  for  the  purpose  by  the  council.    Notwithstanding 
this  provision,  the  councU  committees  continued  for  some 
years  to  exercise  a  large  influence  in  administering  the  city 
departments.    Wherever  charter  revisions  took  place  in 
other  cities  during  the  forties  and  fifties,  the  same  drift  is 
observable.    At  various  points  one  encounters  the  begm. 
nmgs  of  a  movement  which  aimed  to  make  the  mayoralty  ropuUr 
a  semi-mdependent  organ  of  city  government,  chosen  directly  S^"' 
by  the  people  and  exercising  on  a  reduced  scale  the  sort  of 
powers  given  to  the  executive  heads  of  state  and  national 
governments.*  * 

Another  interesting  development  of  this  period  was  the  Wid«i.,oi 
^demng  of  the  municipal  suflFrage.    Prior  to  1830  many  ^'^'^^ 

tion  foT"  ^^^  *  P'°^''^'  ""'  tax-paying,  qualifica- 
tion  for  tiie  right  to  vote,  whether  in  state  or  in  local  elec- 
tions;* but  during  the  presidency  of  Andrew  Jackson  a 
movement  for  the  aboKtion  of  these  requirements  obtained 
Z^l  m  tiie  general  atmosphere  of  the  new  democracy, 
and  before  the  middle  of  the  centuiy  universal  suffrage  had 
so  far  as  the  white  popuktion  was  concerned,  become  the 

and  the  PUladelphkohWS  18W  tj^^„i  " "i^J^r."^ ^'^ • 
Act  (Pebnuiry  2.  WmTwLS  ^^'JTT^  ""**  ^  CoiW)lid»tfcm 
wthorityTL  iUJw     JwtZ?ir"f  irr^  *^  independent 


Il 


12 


OOVBRMMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIEa 


Theapoila 
■intom. 


accepted  policy  in  virtually  all  the  states.  The  observant 
Tocqueville,  writing  in  the  early  thirties,  foresaw  this 
outcome.  "Where  a  nation/'  he  wrote,  "begins  to  modify 
the  elective  quaUfication,  it  may  easily  be  foreseen  that, 
sooner  or  later,  the  qualification  will  be  entirely  abol- 
ished. .  .  .  Concession  follows  concession,  and  no  stop  can 
be  made  short  of  universal  suffrage."  Since  the  suffrage 
qualificationr  were,  as  a  rule,  alike  in  state  and  city,  the 
extensions  in  one  affected  the  situation  in  the  other.  Man- 
hood suffrage  came  upon  the  cities,  however,  at  a  rather 
trying  time,  for  close  upon  its  adoption  followed  the  large 
European  immigrations  to  America.  The  foreigners,  of 
whom  the  cities  received  the  larger  share,  were  admitted 
to  votini'  rights  as  soon  as  they  were  naturalised,  and  the 
facility  with  which  they  often  lent  themselves  to  exploitation 
by  unscrupulous  politicians  imquestionably  had  an  influence 
in  breaking  down  some  of  the  sound  traditions  which  the 
cities  had  conserved  till  that  time. 

It  was  at  this  stage  in  municipal  development,  moreover, 
that  the  spoils  sjrstem  gained  its  firm  anchorage  not  only 
in  the  national  and  state  administrations,  but  in  the  system 
of  selecting  city  oflSciab  as  well.  In  the  larger  cities  ap- 
pointments to  administrative  posts  rested,  for  the  most 
part,  within  the  power  of  the  city  coimcil ;  and,  since  the 
members  of  this  body  were  usually  chosen  from  waids,  in 
contests  conducted  along  party  lines,  they  readily  fell  into 
the  habit  of  treating  such  appointments  as  political  patron- 
age. Moreover,  since  the  idea  of  rotation  in  oflSce  as  a 
maxim  of  democracy  made  its  way  from  national  and  state 
poUtics  into  city  affairs,  even  office-holders  of  the  dominant 
political  party  had  to  give  place  when  their  terms  expired. 
All  incentive  to  the  development  of  skill  and  efficiency  in 
the  conduct  of  municipal  administration  was  thereby 
removed. 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  13 

Another  important  feature  in  the  evolution  of  r  "jnidpal  SapmiioB 
institutions  during  the  ante-beUum  era  was  the  rise  of  the  tILtiStt 
independent  administrative  department.    The  Nbw  York  '**'•**• 
charter  of  1830,  as  has  been  seen,  provided  that  the  council 
should  elect  administrative  officers  to  take  charge  of  various 
city  services;    but  the  fact  that  these  officials  were  ap- 
pointed  by  the  councU  kept  the  ktter  body  in  real  control 
of  their  work  and  prevented  any  marked  improvement. 
In  1849,  however,  a  new  charter  changed  the  situation  by 
prescribing  that  thereafter  the  officers  in  charge  of  city 
departments  should  be  chosrai  by  popular  vote.*    This 
gave  them  independence  of  the  municipal  legislature,  and 
was  an  important  step  in  the  direction  of  divorcing  the 
administrative  arm  of  city  government  from  the  legisktive. 
New  York,  moreover,  was  not  alone  as  an  exponent  of  this 
poUcy;  Chicago  and  Cleveland  furnish  like  examples.    In 
the  latter  city  a  board  of  improvements  was  established, 
consisting  of  the  mayor,  the  city  engineer,  and  three  dectiv^ 
commissioners;    and  to  this  new  commission  was   given 
the  supervision  of  all  pubUc  works.'    In  Philadelphia,  like- 
wise, the  new  charter  of  1854  made  the  office  of  city  treLurer 
elective;   and  in  establishing  the  new  post  of  city  comp- 
troller it  made  that  elective  also.' 

But  while  some  advantages  came  from  the  experiment  of  Appobrth. 
givmg  the  administrative  departments  a  position  of  inde-  "^^ 
pendence,  it  was  soon  apparent  that  efficient  heads  for 
those  branches  of  the  city  service  could  not  be  secured  by 
popukr  election.  In  various  cities,  therefore,  the  selection 
of  these  officials  was  taken  from  the  voters  and  given  to 
the  mayor,  with  the  restriction  that  his    appointments 

« Lam  of  New  York,  IMO,  eh.  147. 

B^'ii"^'^  OfgMiMktIon  Act,  May  8.  1852.  |  41.    8m  aim  dmOm 

^'^,' ^^''^'^^^^^''^'^  of  Cleveland  (BeitimJrimT 
•  Allien  «d  Pto„^  Bi,^  „f  PkUadetpkia,  in-irT^ 


14 


QOVERMHBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIB8 


Btrieter 
•tate  auper- 


should  be  subject  to  confirmation  by  the  upper  chamber 
of  the  city  cound'.    New  York  made  this  change  in  1867 ;  > 
Chicago  and  Baltimore  foUowed  within  a  few  years.    The 
idea  of  making  the  mayor  responsible  for  the  appointment 
of  a  municipal  cabinet  comprising  the  heads  of  the  various 
departments  soon   gained  popularity,   partly  because  it 
seemed  in  consonance  with  the  general  plan  of  American 
government  as  exemplified  in  the  Urger  areas  of  state  and 
nation,  and  partly  because  the  people  of  the  cities  were 
beginning  to  look  upon  the  mayor  as  the  pivotal  figure  in 
local    administration.    Indeed,    the    decline    of    popular 
confidence  in  city  councils  and  the  increasing  confidence 
m  the  chief  magistrate  form  the  outstanding  features  of 
this  period. 

A  tendency  to  tighten  the  reins  of  state  control  over 
city  administration  is  another  development  of  the  same  era, 
particularly  of  the  later  years  of  it.    The  inefficiency,  waste- 
fulness, and  even  dishonesty  with  which  the  various  munic- 
ipal services  had  been  administered  by  council  committees 
and  by  officials  elected  by  popular  vote  became  texts  for 
frequent  protests  on  the  floors  of  state  legislatures.    Par- 
ticularly did  the   ahnost  universal  maladministration  of 
municipal  poUce  departments,  and  the  consequent  faUure 
of  the  cities  to  enforce  the  kws  of  the  state,  furnish  a  stand- 
ing temptation  to  legislative  intervention.    This  interven- 
tion came  in  several  states  during  the  late  fifties.    In  1857 
the  legisUture  of  New  York  established  a  state-appointed 
police  board  for  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  adjacent  munic- 
ipalities, thereby  dispUcing   local  control  of  the  depart- 
ment.'   The  legisUture  of  Maryland  saddled  a  state  poUce 

«  Um  ef  Ar«w  York,  1867,  eh.  446. 

tolll?*!?^'^  "^^  *^  fa«ffloi«wy  of  nrb«i  poBoe  .nd  •  d«lr. 
^^V»*r^'^*»^  "^  ^  Prinoi|»I  motiv«r"  -  L.  F.  Fr^ 
Poltee  AdminiitnaUm  (New  York,  WIO),  38. 


AMIWCAN  MUNICIPAL  DSVKLOPMBNT  15 

boani  upon  Baltimore  in  1860,  state  control  of  municipal 

llt'VT"^^'^  ^  ^*-  ^"^  ^  1861,  and  about  Se 
•ame  tame  the  legislature  of  Illinois  put  the  poUce  of  Chicago 
m  a  smuh«.  strait-jacket.    When  the  war  broke  uponT 

^  L  K  '  T  ^"^  "'  ^•'^  "^"^-P'^  poUce'^ontn,! 
mto  state  hands  was  making  rapid  headway;  but  in  due 

ttT  ^  °»°^«»««t  overreached  itself  and  brought  a  reac 
^T  *    u.^'^  d«»organi«ed  local  administration  to  some 
^n^,  but  not  to  the  degree  that  might  have  been  ex- 
pected.    Occasional  disorders  comiected   with   the  forced 
draf  mg  of  recruits  put  added  strain  upon  the  pohce  depart- 
ment  m  some  cities;  but  otherwise  the  public  service   in 
regions  outride  the  theatre  of  conflict,  were  carried  on  aliut 
as  usual.    Foreign  immigration  ahnost  ceased,   of  couiTje, 
and  dunng  the  war  years  the  cities  moved  forward  in  popu^ 
lation  much   more  slowly   than   before   the  strugglfL 
gan.    The  close  of  hostilities  marked  the  begimiing  of  a 

TusSSe.'^^   "^  '^^*^°^^^*  ^'  — ^«  -<^ 
In  tracing  the  history  of  American  municipal  development  m™ 

^ugh  the  years  of  national  reconstruction  down  to  about  *^ 
the  year  1890.  This  era  began  inauspiciously,  for  the 
a^n^rution  of  the  larger  cities  of  the'land  a^U^^ t 
the  tone  mcurably  bad.  The  action  of  the  state  aVthorities 
m  withdrawmg  powers  from  local  hands  seemed  to  have 
made  thmgs  worse  rather  than  better.    New  York,  where 

^r^.  nf  ?.'  '^'^  '^""^*^^  administered  city  in  Am^a, 
and  one  of  the  rnost  corrupt  in  the  world,  its  govermnent 
being  firmly  m  the  clutches  of  the  notorious  Tweed  Ring 

to  turn  pubhc  funds  into  private  fortunes.  There  is  no 
page  m  the  amials  of  American  municipal  history  mo^ 


le 


OOVIBMMINT  OF  AMERICAN  CITUB 


The  tarn  o( 
the  tide. 


sordid  than  this.*  Nor  was  the  situation  in  many  other 
cities  at  this  time  much  better.  While  the  war  lasted 
its  effect  was  chastening,  and  local  public  opinion  was  strong 
enough  to  keep  the  municipal  authorities  from  gross  extrava^ 
gance ;  but  with  the  end  of  the  conflict  came  an  extraordi- 
nary economic  revival,  —  industry  and  commerce  expanded, 
the  tide  of  immigration  returned,  and  the  cities,  as  was 
entirely  natural,  felt  the  first  effects  of  the  new  prosperity. 
The  tone  of  local  opinion  became  one  of  pronounced  opti- 
mism, an  atmosphere  in  which  opportunities  for  the  abuse 
of  public  trusts  are  usually  abundant.  Taxes  rose,  debts 
increased,  and  much  of  the  money  that  came  into  the 
municipal  treasuries  was  shamelessly  squandered.  A  com- 
prehensive investigation  of  conditions  in  American  cities 
during  the  later  sixties  would  probably  have  disclosed  a 
state  of  affairs  no  better,  and  much  more  difficult  to  remedy, 
than  those  laid  bare  in  the  boroughs  of  Eng^d  by  the  royal 
commission  of  1833. 

By  1870  the  dangers  of  the  situation  had  become  so  clear 
that  a  popular  uprising  in  the  interest  of  municipal  reform 
could  not  be  prevented  by  all  the  efforts  of  the  powerful  and 
well-organized  groups  of  professional  politicians  who  con- 
trolled affairs  in  the  larger  cities.  In  New  York  the  Tweed 
Ring  was  overthrown,  and  immediately  thereafter  the  city 
received  a  new  charter  which  contained  many  provisions  de- 
signed to  afford  greater  safeguards  against  the  misuse  of  mu- 
nicipal funds.*    Other  cities,  such  as  Pittsburgh,  Chicago,  and 

*  An  ezedlent  brief  aoooant  of  tbe  oi|M)inti<m  snd  opetmtioas  at  the 
'l-weed  Rmg  nuty  be  found  in  James  Bryee'i  Amtriean  Commonwtaith 
(2  vols..  New  Tork.  1910).  II.  384-306. 

*  One  ot  these  was  the  provision  establishinc  a  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment,  made  up  of  the  mayor,  the  oomptroQer,  the  prerident 
of  the  board  <^  aldwmen,  and  the  elaet  offloer  of  the  department  of  tarn 
uid  assessments.  To  this  body  was  given  the  task  of  preparioc  tha 
annual  budget,  a  function  which  had  up  to  1873  been  ezsroised  by  a  oom- 
mittee  of  tiie  dty  oounoiL    The  diange  was  deajgned  to  put  an  end  to 


AMDUOAN  MUNICIPAL  DIVELOPMIMT 


17 


St.  Louis,  undertook  important  administrative  reforms 
during  the  next  few  years.  In  general  the  changes  were 
all  in  the  direction  of  concentrating  upon  the  mayor  a  large 
part  of  the  responsibility  for  selecting  those  administrative 
officers  who  controlled  the  large  spending  departments. 
In  some  instances  the  mayor  was  authorised  to  suspend  or 
remove  undutiful  heads  of  departments,  and  in  neariy 
every  case  his  veto  power  was  put  upon  a  firm  statutory 
basis. 

Many  of  the  worst  abuses  in  city  government  were  the  CoUh 
legitimate  progeny  of  the  spoils  system.    As  has  already  SiST* 
been  seen,  the  iniquitous  doctrine  that  public  office  and 
public  patronage  were  the  fair  rewards  of  partisan  valor 
obtained  its  foothold  in  the  national  service  during  the 
presidency   of  Andrew  Jackson.    Malignant   ills   of  this 
type  seem  to  spread  very  rapidly  in  the  body  politic,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  the  Jacksonian  dogma  had  obtained 
acceptance  in  the  fields  of  state  and  municipal  administra- 
tion.   The  period  following  the  war  found  the  spoils  system 
triumphant  in  all  the  larger  cities.    Independent  spirits 
like  Charles  Sumner  had  begun  a  campaign  against  it  in 
the  national  service,*  but  in  the  cities  scarcely  a  voice  was 
yet  heard  in  denunciation.    The  New  York  charter  of  1873, 
however,  dealt  the  sjrstem  of  official  patronage  an  indirect 
but  important  blow  when  it  prohibited    the  removal  of 
policemen  and  firemen  except  for  good  cause.    In  fact,  the 
beginnings  of  civil-service  reform  in  the  cities  are  to  be  found 
in  attempts  to  prevent  improper  removals  rather  than  in  en- 
deavors to  secure  proper  appointments.    The  merit  system 
of  appointment  was  making  headway  in  the  national  adminis- 
tration during  the  period,  but  it  was  not  till     ^r  1890 

the  oarahml  of  extavaguuM  wliieh  hsd  been  made  possible,  aad  evea 
Deen  enooonced.  by  the  kv-folUog  prutioes  of  the  yews  pnoedii*. 
» Charies  Suiaaer,  Worlu  (16  voli.,  Bosttm.  1874-1883),  Vin.  4BA-4II7. 
0 


i 


IS 


aOVlHNMIMT  or  AMBUCAM  OITIli 


I   : 


arowthof 
dtiMiftar 


liMfioienoy 
of  nunie^al 


that  it  gained  any  eonaiderable  '""ignition  in  the  diarten 
of  citiei.' 

During  the  quarteivcentury  following  the  war  Am«rioan 
dties  made  an  unprecedented  advance  in  population,  in 
the  share  which  th^  aaeumed  in  national  life,  and  in  the 
importance  of  the  public  services  undertaken  by  them.  In 
1860  the  number  of  American  municipalities  having  popula* 
tions  exceeding  8000  had  increased  to  141 ;  in  1870  it  was 
226;  in  1800  it  was  448.  In  1865  these  cities  contained 
less  than  twenty  per  cent  of  the  entire  national  popula- 
tion; in  1890  the  iu*ban  element  had  risen  to  thirty  per 
cent.  In  the  intervening  quarter-century  the  city  dwellers 
had  trebled  in  total  numerical  strength ;  nearly  20,000,000 
Americans  in  1890  lived  in  cities  and  towns.  Particularly 
marked,  moreover,  was  the  growth  of  the  larger  cities  in 
this  era.  In  1890  there  were  six  cities  of  the  United  States 
with  populations  exceeding  half  a  million  each,  fifteen  had 
above  200,000,  and  twenty-five  over  100,0CJ.  For  much 
of  this  growth  the  steady  stream  of  immigration,  the  devel- 
opment of  railway  and  marine  transportation,  and  the  general 
expansion  of  indiistry  were  responsible.  Cities  had  grown, 
not  only  through  their  own  internal  increase  of  population 
and  through  the  large  alien  element  which  came  to  them, 
but  also  by  drawing  on  the  rural  districts  and  the  small 
towns. 

With  this  rapid  growth  the  various  municipal  functions 
tried  to  keep  pace,  but  frequently  without  success.  Follow- 
ing the  example  of  New  York,  all  the  cities  of  any  consider- 
able size  had  established  professional  police  systems,  and 


>  Tub  euly  hiitoty  of  the  fli^t  acainit  the  ■poQs  ■jratem  it  given  by 
C.  R.  Hah.  Th4  Cvril  Strviee  and  Ois  Patronage  (New  York,  1905),  ee- 
pedally  eh.  x.  Ftnr  the  thecnjes  upon  which  the  spoila  syston  rated, 
■ee  H.  J.  Fend,  The  R.  and  Orawlh  </  Ameriean  PoUtiei  (New  Toric, 
1806),oh.aiL 


AMMBIOAH  ICmnOIPAL  DIVBLGJ^flNT  19 

Iwd  for  the  most  part  put  them  in  ehwge  of  boMdi  or  of 
■ingle  comminionen.    Some  of  the  itatee  that  h«l  Mromed 
direct  control  of  local  poUce  in  their  larger  dties  gave  up 
this  control,  — New  York,  for  example,  in  1870,  and  Michi- 
gan in  1891.    Other  states  foUowed  a  contrary  policy,  — 
as  Massachusetts,  which  established  a  state  poUce  commie- 
sion  for  Boston  in  1885,  and  Ohio,  which  took  over  the 
police  administration  of  Cincinnati  in  the  year  foUowing. 
In  the  matter  of  fire  protection,  the  general  establishment 
of  professional  brigades  and  the  enormous  improvement  in 
appliances  were  features  of  the  period.    Water  and  sewerage 
Byttena  were  extended  and  greatly  improved;  comprehen- 
sive schemes  of  street  lighting  were  adopted  in  even  the 
smaller  cities;  modem  pavements  came  into  general  use; 
municipal  transit  faciUties  were  bettered,  particuUriy  with 
the  introduction  of  the  trollqr  system;   and  vasUy  more 
attention  was  given  to  public  elementary  education,  to  the 
creation  of  parks  and  pkces  of  pubUc  recreation,  and  to  the 
provision  of  municipal  hospitals. 

All  this  expansion  tv  as  inevitably  accompanied  by  a  rapid 
increase  in  annual  municipal  expenditures  and  by  an  even 
more  marked  increase  in  dty  debts.    The  latter  mounted 
everywhere,  often  to  such  dangerous  proportions  that  in 
several  states  attempts  were  made  to  hold  municipal  in- 
debtedness within  bounds  by  the  appUcation  of  statutory 
debt  limits,  and  by  other  hampers  upon  the  freedom  to  bor- 
row  on  the  city's  credit.    Much  of  that  heavy  burden  which 
to-day  puts  some  larger  cities  in  rather  straitened  circum- 
stances by  reason  of  the  vast  amounts  that  must  annually 
go  to  pay  interest  on  bonded  debt,  is  directly  traceable  to 
the  Uvish  and  often  ill-advised  exercise  of  municipal  borw 
rowing  powers  which  characterised  the  poUcy  of  the  dty 
authorities  during  the  seventies  and  eighties.    Loans   for 
pubUc  works  and  services  were  contracted  under  arrange. 


QOVBDflllNT  or  AimiOAN  oimi 


AjlM»«< 


mcntt  UiAt  inadeqiutely  provided  for  repftymoit,  or  that 
spreMi  repayment  over  long  periods.  The  lifetime  of  bonde 
often  proved  more  extended  than  the  duration  of  the  works 
or  aervioea  for  which  the  borrowed  funds  had  been  ex- 
pended. Not  a  little  of  the  trouble  aroae  from  slovenly 
financial  methods,  from  the  wholly  ineffective  system  <rf 
municipal  accounting,  and  from  the  indefensible  policy, 
which  most  cities  pursued,  of  paying  for  presently  needs 
by  obligating  a  future  generation. 

With  all  its  persisting  problems  and  its  apparent  inabil- 
ity to  find  solution  for  most  of  them,  the  American  munici- 
pal sjrstem  underwent  noticeable  improvemmt  during  the 
quarter-centuiy  preceding  1890.    Some  of  the  more  flagrant 
abuses  were  greatly  diminished,  some  of  the  lesser  ills 
disappeared.    From  time  to  time  during  the  period  there 
were  spasms  of  civic  virtue.    Public  indignation  in  this  or 
that  large  city  would  arise,  shake  off  its  wonted  apathy,  and 
turn  a  remiss  julministration  out  of  office;  thai  it  would 
usuaUy  allow  itself  to  be  lulled  into  false  security  while 
the  cid  regime  gradually  worked  itself  back  into  full  operas 
tion.    Reform  movements  labored  under  heavy  handicaps, 
for  the  public  temper  would  hardly  be  ready  to  brook  any 
root-and-branch  demolition  of  existing  municipal  institu- 
tions.   I^posals  for  improvement  had,   accordingly,   to 
reckon  with  a  rigid  popular  loyalty  to  the  principle  of 
division  of  powers  in  dty  government,  and  such  of  them  as 
secured  adoption  were  invariably  inadequate  to  the  desired 
ends.     The  cause  of    municipal  reform  suffered  greatly 
in  the  public  estimation  through  its  frequent  championship 
of  halfway  measures,  which  were  put  through  with  great 
«cpenditure  of  energy  but  which  accomplished  very  little 
after  their  acceptance.    To  gain  support  for  their  proposals, 
reformers  had  to  promue  more  civic  improvement  than 
their  measures  coxild  ever  achieve ;  and  this  constant  die- 


AMBIOAN  MUNICIPAL  DIVBLOPMINT 


31 


wepMcy  between  prediction  and  performanee  brought  » 
natural  Iom  in  pubUe  preetife.* 

The  Uteit  period  in  the  growth  of  the  American  municipal  n*M*M 
Vrtem,  extending  from  about  1800  to  the  proaent  time,  haa  ^* 
been  in  many  waya  the  meet  important  and  the  moat  inter- 
eating  of  aU.    It  began  with  aomewhat  indiatinot  gieama 
of  an  awakening  dvio  oouadenee.    During  the  ninetiea, 
however,  the  old  municipal  framework  aulTered  Uttle  impaiiw 
ment;    for  the  awaulta  of  reform  were  directed  againat 
particular  features  of  it  rather  than  againat  ito  general  prin- 
ciplea  of  conatruction.'    The  apoila  ayitem,  for  example, 
became  a  favorite  target,  and  with  excellent  reaulta.    Soon 
after  civil^rvice  reform  had  proved  ita  profitablenesa  in 
national  administration,  the  agitation  for  ita  extenaion  to 
atate  and  munidpat  appointmenta  brought  tangible  reaulta 
in  New  York  and  Massachuaetta,  the  former  atate  enacting 
Its  first  dvil-eerviee  Uw  in  1883,  and  the  Utter  in  1884. 
After  an  interval  of  about  a  decade  three  other  atatea, 
nhnoia,  Wiscondn,  and  Indiana,  followed  in  1895.    Louisi- 
ana gave  the  merit  system  a  limited  recognition  in  1896, 
Connecticut  hi  1897;  and  one  by  one  most  of  the  other 
■tatea  have  been  added  to  the  list,  untU  at  the  preaent 
time  about  two-thirds  of  them  have  dvil^ervioe  reform 
lawa  of  one  aort  or  another."    In  many  cases  the  dties  have 

'  8m  b«ioir,  pp.  377-888. 

•la  180B.  far  eampie.  th«  NatkmiJ  ManidiMd  Lmmu  aadertook  to 

J^J^f^Lir"*^!.**  ^^^  *"  '^  ttmntki  way  from  the  ot^odoK 

"••UBOfy;   bat  ita  fhunen  tvioMd  bo  nacUiMH  to  tbmr  mnlrfw^ 
th.  old  {.rinoipl.  of  wp^tion  of  powwJTSZ  £e^lS?S£ 

tW.  oflto«  d«dd  l»^  tho  n«»l^oS^nrUr^^  ^  "^ 

«WOrt  of  the  NatioiuJ  Civfl  8«vio.  Brfom  I*i«M  for  ma         ^'** 


22 


QOVERNMSNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Thedvie 


f 


secured  legislation  putting  certain  of  their  officials  and  em- 
ployees vinder  civil-service  rules  even  before  the  policy  has 
gained  acceptance  in  the  state  administratint  There  are 
now  very  few  municipalities  of  any  considerable  «ii?.t  in 
which  civil-service  reform  has  nox  gained  some  looting. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the  boaeficent  poli  deal 
reaction  which  the  introduction  of  the  merit  system,  even 
upon  a  narrow  scale,  has  exercised  in  American  cities.  Not 
all  municipal  abuses  can  be  related  to  the  vice  of  poUtical 
patronage;  but  a  great  many  of  them  are  very  closely 
connected  with  it,  and  it  is  certain  that  where  patronage 
has  been  eliminated,  or  even  restricted,  some  of  the  worst 
evils  have  disappeared. 

Other  improvements  in  mimicipal  methods  during  the 
nineties  deserve  mention.  One  was  a  return  to  the  early 
practice  of  holding  state  and  city  elections  upon  different 
dates,  a  procedure  which  made  possible  the  divorce  of 
local  from  state  issues.  This  method  was  not  followed 
by  all  the  larger  cities,  however;  for  it  alwa}n9  has  to 
brave  the  opposition  of  party  organizations,  and  its  adop- 
tion necessarily  involves  considerable  extra  expense.  The 
aboUtion  of  the  two-chambered  council,  the  reduction 
in  size  of  the  municipal  legislature,  the  substitution  of 
election  at  large  for  election  by  wards,  the  abolition 
of  aldermanic  checks  upon  the  mayor's  appointing  power, 
—  all  these  features  gained  favor  in  some  cities  prior 
to  1900. 

But  the  real  renaissance  in  American  city  government 
has  come  dvuing  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years,  and  may  be 
said  to  have  begun  with  the  Galveston  experiment  of  1901, 
although  somewhat  connected  with  the  general  movement 
for  the  concentration  of  power  in  the  mayor.  The  genesis 
of  government  by  commission  and  its  remarkable  growth  in 
popularity  throuj^out  the  United  States  are  matters  that 


AMBHICAN  MDOTCIPAL  DEVBIOPMBNT  23 

»^^  .t  tto,  pomt,  however,  th.t  the  «lvoc.tes  of  the  !Z 
m^on  ptan  we«  the  Sm  greup  of  mumdp.1  «fome™  to 
bnng  forth  a  propoMl  to  .boUeh  the  tr«iition.l  «pi^„. 

baeu   of  the  whole  muiucip.1  frwnework.    The  phm  hu 
P«.d  r.p,dly ;  it,  aoceptMoo  by  one  or  more  cities  tomo" 
tto  tw<.thu*  of  the  «a,e,  constitutee  the  mort  1^ 
phenomenon  of  the  lateet  dec^ie  in  Amerio«.  mCS 
development.    With  the  «ioption  of  commi^on  e^L 
moreover,  mo«  cities  have  used  the  opportunity  t^  mI2 
o«^  o^amc  „hang».    Tie  int™ductiorof  p«,LL"t 
direct  legislation  «id  the  recall  has,  for  example   been  . 
foatu^  of  charter  revisions  almost  ev^where."    Uet^ 
direct  non-partisan  primly  as  .  meaiTof  putting  c^ 
dates  m  nomination  for  municipal  offices  has  .bo"*„^^ 

hid^r'^"^"""*^-  ^y«.Boston^o« 
ha,  preferred  the  system  of  nomination  by  petition.    Some 

natag  formahty  by  «lopti.g  the  phm  of  preferential  voting. 
But  .Ul  these  vanous  changes  in  nomination  methods  1^ 
h«l  the  same  motive  behind  them,-n«nely,  to  br^d™ 

ity  to  those  candidates  for  munidpj  office  who  miAt 
come  forwart  mUiou,  the  pledged  support  of  aTy  p„S 
orgamsation.    The  aboUtion  of  party  dUmaZL^ntk 

b^ot  Itself  by  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  ele^offle^ 

^tSTtCl'"™  "^^  '^'•'^  ^-^y  ^ 

Improvanent.  in  internal  «tainl,tratioB  have  gone  h«,d 
^^•'*-*-  ■S-l»to,,di..lll. 


24 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


ImprovA- 
mentsin 
municipal 
•arvioM. 


Adminirtra-  in  hand  with  these  organic  changes.  Better  methods  of 
ve  coma,  jjj^jjjgjpj^j  accounting  and  auditing,  a  closer  scrutiny  of  all 
pa}anents  out  of  the  mimicipal  treasury,  the  elimination 
of  such  vicious  features  as  padded  payroll  non-competitive 
contracts,  and  patronage  purchases,  the  proper  safeguarding 
of  the  city's  interests  in  all  dealings  with  public-service 
corporations,  —  these  are  a  few  examples  of  the  progress 
toward  greater  efficiency  and  economy  made  by  many  of 
the  cities  of  the  United  States  within  recent  years. 

Noteworthy  improvements  in  both  the  scope  and  the 
efficiency  of  various  mimicipal  services  have  been  made 
in  the  last  two  decades.  In  1890  there  was  little  or  no 
public  interest  in  city  planning,  or,  indeed,  in  any  of  these 
laterKiay  movements  which  have  for  their  aim  the  ssthetic 
improvement  of  cities.  Mimicipal  works  were  undertaken 
with  little  regard  to  what  had  gone  before,  and  with  less 
regard  to  what  was  likely  to  come  after.  All  this  has 
changed,  or  is  changing.  So,  too,  there  has  been  a  great 
advance  along  the  lines  of  municipal  sanitation  and  care  for 
the  public  health ;  arrangements  for  the  protection  of  life 
and  property  have  been  better  organized ;  and  lighting  and 
transportation  systems  have  made  more  progress  in  efficiency 
during  the  last  twenty  years  than  they  did  in  the  preceding 
fifty.^  Finally,  the  civic  conscience  has  been  brought  from 
apathy  to  activity,  and  the  whole  tone  and  temper  of  mu- 
nicipd  life  has  been  raised  thereby.  Public  opinion  in 
American  cities  is  healthier  to-day  than  it  has  been  for 
three-quarters  of  a  centtuy;  it  will  not  tolerate  doings 
which  it  freely  condoned  a  generation  ago.  In  the  late 
eighties  and  early  nineties  it  was  in  many  large  cities  practi- 
cally impossible  to  secure  a  fair  election.  Impersonation, 
repeating,  intimidation,  and   kindred  oflfences   against  the 


1  Tar  forther  details,  see  Charles  Zoeblin,  American  Municipal  Prof' 
rtu  (New  York,  1003).  and  Dteadt  tf  Citie  Dtutopmmt  (Chioago.  1006). 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


2S 


with  the  aid  or  the  connivance  of  the  police  officials  of  fl,« 

Much  of  the  credit  for  thi.  improyed  toae  in  city  .lf.u»  ^ 
«  due  to  the  hoet  of  local  o,»„uzatioue  whose  offiLf  3  ^-^^ 

aectoral  lump  The  cause  of  muuicipal  reform,  like  .U 
reform  caueee,  has  produced  it.  due  quota  of  iu«uidi^ 
sea^ote  who  would  fain  reap  where  they  have  Z^ 
•ud  who,  accordingly,  have  aimed  to  turry  tht  dto^' 

Sue,  I  ;°:^:^' *r"'  r^*^  °' "™  °'»^- 

j™   .V  •       ™'''^"«"  chapter  u  designed  to  show,  hava 

^  the  Urt  decile,  moreover,  the«  ha.  been  more  te«n  X 
among  the  orgamsatiomi,  and  a  greater  mdines,  to  co».7 

r^   remaricable  penod  in  American  histoiy.    In  1890  ^tS» 
«nt  of  the  whole;  in  1900  it  had  risen  to  40.6  per  c.nt\^ 

S  two" '  zr  ''iLT""*' '  "^  *—  o^'o  P^^ 

anv  nil.r^        llu't  M  a  greater  gain  than  has  marked 
«ny  previous  penod  of  equal  length.    In  1890  there  w^ 

^"r  "heti:r9r,r^  *?.•»" '««'  «^ 

citi»  .i,™J  •         '™''^**"'  "o™  tlum  twenty  American 
cfe.  diowed  mcrease.  of  popuUtion  r«Ming  fr^m  100^ 


26 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Pranieota 
(or  the 
(tttun. 


cent  to  nearly  250  per  cent  or  more.  The  growth  of  Binning- 
ham,  Alabama,  for  example,  gave  that  city  the  phenomenal 
record  of  245  per  cent ;  but  the  fact  that  Los  Angeles  gained 
211  per  cent,  Seattle  194  per  cent,  Spokane  183  per  cent, 
Dallas  116  per  cent,  and  Schenectady  129  per  cent  shows 
that  the  phenomenon  was  not  peculiar  to  any  section  of  the 
country. 

All  this  seems  to  prove  that  the  great  urbanizing  forces 
which   made   the   nineteenth   century   the   classic  era  of 
city  expansion  are  still  at  work  with  undiminished  vigor. 
The  continued  development  of  production  on  a  large  scale, 
the  centripetal  influence  of  artificial  power,  the  greater  facili- 
ties which  the  large  city  gives  to  industry  in  the  matter  of 
transportation,  the  better  opportunities  that  it  offers  for 
the  profitable  utilization  of  by-products,  the  elasticity  of 
the  labor  market  in  urban  centres,  the  advantages  derivable 
from  a  considerable  market  close  at  hand,  —  all  this  has 
tended  to  concentrate  the  great  industrial  assets  of  the 
United  States  in  the  cities,  and  particularly  in  the  larger 
cities.    Time  was  when  industries  went  where  the  water- 
power  happened  to  be  placed  by  nature;    but  nowadays 
great  industries  are  rarely,  if  ever,  ready  to  sacrifice  for 
the  sake  of  this  single  feature  the  other  great  advantages 
afforded  by  an  urban  location.    It  is  the  combination  of 
cheap  fuel  for  motive  power,  cheap  labor,  and  cheap  trans- 
portation which  now  determines  the  location  and  governs 
the  growth  of  great  cities.    The  development  of  water- 
borne  commeree  has  also  had  its  great  share  —  greater  than 
most  people  realize  — in  the  making  of  large  American 
cities.    The  fact  that,  of  the  thirty  cities  which  the  census 
of  1910  reported  as  having  populations  exceeding  150,000, 
all  but  four  are  located  upon  navigable  water  is  not  a  mere 
coincidence ;  it  is  a  tangible  proof  (which  may  be  corrobo- 
rated by  a  glance  at  the  maps  of  other  countries)  of  the 


AMBRICAN  MUKICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT  27 

intimate  relation  that  exists  between  the  statistics  of  man- 
tune  commerce  and  the  census  figures  of  city  growth.* 

These  primary  causes  of  urban  expansion  have  made  their  n.to>« 
way  mto  the  twentieth  century  with  unabated  vigor     They  ■*"•"«*• 
show  no  signs  of  weakening.    Despite  predictions  that  the 
law  of  dmiinishing  returns  in  agriculture.'"  ihe  "centrifugal 
influence  of  electric  power  in  industry,"  and  "the  aboUtion 
of  discnmmations  in  transportation  rates  by  state  and  federal 
commeree  commissions"  would  aU  operate  to  stem  the 
drift  to  ihe  large  centres,  there  is  no  sign  that  any  or  aU  of 
these  factors  have  had  any  effective  counteracting  influence, 
bo  also  the  secondary  causes  of  urban  growth  -  the  social, 
pohtical,  educational,  and  other  advantages  of  city  life  — 
have  mcreased  rather  than  diminished  in  strength.    The 
cumulative  influences  tiiat  go  to  constitute  the  magnetism 
of  the  modem  city  were  never  more  pronounced  than  they 
areto^ay.    Their  seemingly  irresistible  strength  warrants 
the  expectation  tiiat,  before  many  years  har    nussed,  tiie 
urban  population  of  the  United  States  wiU  have  gained 
nimierical  mastery. 

RnrasiHcas 

Sta^'^ttr^'^  ^^^  ^  mimicipid  development  in  the  United 
Sj^hiH^t°"*r^°"***°**'**''^-    8«veridu,efulmonoer.Xin 

(1886)-    eT  SS'    ?     ^A  ^-  H'*»"»> •  Penfuyhania  Borough, 
P«J«or  Bdw»d  Chining;.  Tou^  and  County  Go^nJSTZ  B^ 

A  F  W.JW.  mT  «       proo&amxita  of  a  oontinued  nml  eiodiu.  bm 


28 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Mneh  hM  «Iao  bam  mitten  on  th*  mtmieiiMd  hiitory  of  «tdi  of  tho 
UrgwdtiM.  Amonc  the  moat  OMfnl  books  in  tUi  field  an  tiwfoUowinc: 
J.  O.  Wawn,  Mtmorial  Hillary  of  O*  City  of  New  York  (4  vcda..  New 
Twk.  1802-1898);  Theodora  Rooaevdt,  ATew  York  (New  Toric.  1801); 
A.  T.  AndieM,  Hittory  ^  Ckieago  (3  vola.,  Chioaco.  1885) ;  8.  E.  Bpatliac, 
Municipal  Hittory  and  Prttent  OrganiMoHon  nf  the  City  of  Chicago  (Madi- 
aon,  1806) ;  H.  S.  QroMV,  Chicago:  a  Renew  of  ite  OovemmenttU  Hietery 
(Cliioaco.  1006) :  E.  P.  AlUaon  and  Boies  Penroae.  Hiatory  of  PkOaddfAia 
(Baltimora.  1887) ;  J.  T.  Sohaif ,  Hietory  ef  St.  T.ouie  (2  vds.,  PhOaddpiiia, 
1883);  Jodah  Qoinoy,  Municipal  HiUory  of  Boeton  (Boston.  1852); 
H.  H.  l^mgue.  The  CUy  Ootemment  of  Boaton.  iU  Riee  and  Denlopment 
(Boston.  1800) ;  Nathan  Matthews,  City  Government  of  Boeton  (Boston, 
1805) ;  St.  Qeorve  L.  Siooasat.  Baltimore  (Baltimore.  1900) ;  J.  H.  Hol- 
lander, Financial  Hiatory  of  BalHnMre  (Baltimora,  1800) ;  Bsraaid  Moses, 
The  Eetabliehment  of  City  Government  in  San  Franeieeo  (Baltimora. 
1880);  Charies  Snavely.  Hietory  of  the  City  Goeemment  of  CteeOani 
(Baltimoro.  1002) ;  W.  W.  Howe,  Tha  City  Goeemment  ef  New  Orleeuu 
(Baltimora,  1880). 

The  best  short  ontUne  of  municipal  growth  in  Amwriea  is  oontalned  in 
the  ehapter  on  "Munidpal  Develoimiait  in  ihe  United  States,"  in  Fh>- 
fessor  John  A.  Fairlie's  Municipal  Adminietration  (New  Tork.  1001).  In 
the  same  author's  Eeeaye  in  Municipal  Adminietration  (New  Yoric,  1006) 
then  is  also  an  exodlent  study  of  "Mnnidpal  Corptnations  in  ibe  Cok^ 
nies."  Mentton  may  also  be  made  of  the  essay  <»  "Munidpal  Corpon^ 
tkms.  1701-1001,"  by  Prafessw  H.  W.  Rogers,  in  the  Tale  meentonnfal 
▼dume  entitled  Two  Centwiee*  Growth  cf  American  Law  (New  Tock, 
1001). 


CHAPTER  n 

THB  SOCIAL  'TBUCrrURB  OF  THB  CUT 

The  modem  city  is  roughly  definable  as  a  body  of  popu-  ti»dt,M 
lation  massed  in  a  smaU  area.    But  it  is  something  mora  ■"^'•«* 
than  that ;  it  is  a  body  of  population  jf  other  than  ordinary 
Mcial  texture,  presenting  measurabl  >  characteristics  that 
differentiate  it  from  the  general  mass  jf  a  countiy's  inhabit- 
ants.   In  other  words,  if  we  take  as  one  unit  the  100  000 
mdividuals  who  may  constitute  the  population  of  a  preset, 
day  Amencan  city,  and  compare  this  with  another  unit 
made  up  of  100,000  individuals  drawn  at  random  from  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  from  city  and  country  aUke 
the  two  units  wiU  show  differences,  more  or  less  marked 
at  aU  pomts  at  which  their  respective  social  characteristics 
can  be  statisticaUy  compared.    In  such  matters  as  the 
numerical  proportion  of  the  sexes,  the  distribution  of  popu- 
lation according  to  age,  the  variety  and  nature  of  occupa- 
tion, the  birth,  marriage,  and  death  rates,  the  average 
eammg  power  of  individuals,  the  proportion  of  the  proper- 
tied to  the  -on-propertied  class,  the  relative  prevalence  of 
lUiteracy  pauperism,  and  crime,  a  comparison  of  the  two 
imits  will  reveal  differences  which,  in  their  totality,  warrant 
the  conclusion  that  the  modem  city  has  a  sodologioal 
anatomy  of  its  own.  •-©«— 

In  the  United  States,  as  in  aH  other  new  countries,  the  Di-Hi»tin. 
males  outnumber  the  females  in  the  national  population  ^^ 
as  a  whole;  but  in  the  dtiee  this  relation  is  reversed,  the 
excess  of  females  being  there  pronounced.'    This  reversal 

«i«fein.l«iatIi«iiMloii«ipopaUti<».~tli»tl%»boattwomor»ia«;^ 

39 


byta*. 


mmm 


lliftiiiiMi 


80 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Dirtributioa 
fagraae- 


R      ! 


IS      ! 

p.     t 


of  the  ratio  in  the  turban  sections  of  the  country  is  readily 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  normal  proportion  of  the 
sexes  in  difft  ^ent  areas  is  dependent  upon  the  prevailing 
occupations  of  the  people.*  In  agricultural  and  mining 
districts  males  predominate  strongly;  in  industrial  centres 
the  reverse  is  true.  The  city  is  such  a  centre;  and  upon 
the  nature  of  its  industries  depends,  of  course,  the  strength 
of  the  femal.  excess.  In  the  factory  cities  of  New  Eng- 
land, such  as  Lowell,  Manchester,  Holyoke,  and  New 
Bedford,  which  are  strongholds  of  the  textile  industry,  the 
predominance  of  females  ranges  from  three  to  four  per 
hundred  of  population.*  Of  itself,  this  difference  in  the 
ratio  of  the  sexes  between  the  national  population  and  that 
part  of  it  which  is  urban  may  be  regarded  as  a  matter  of 
no  considerable  importance ;  but  with  the  steady  influx  of 
women  into  new  industrial  fields  the  difference  may,  and 
probably  will,  become  still  more  marked  as  time  goes  on.' 

A  national  population,  not  affected  in  its  growth  by  im- 
migration or  emigration,  and  regarded  from  the  viewpoint 
of  its  distribution  by  age,  is  commonly  plotted  on  the 
census  charts  in  the  form  of  an  irregular  pyramid.  At  the 
base  are  the  infants,  at  the  apex  the  aged.    The  base  is 

one  hundred  persons ;  but  in  New  Tork  City  the  females  constituted 
60.38  per  cent  ot  the  population,  in  Philadelphia  50.06  per  cent,  in  Boston 
50.98  per  cent,  in  Detroit  51.26  per  oent,  in  Cincinnati  51.78  per  cent, 
in  New  Orleans  52.26  per  oent,  and  in  Atlanta  53.61  per  oent.  See  Bureau 
of  the  Census,  BuUetin,  Na  14, "  The  Proportion  of  the  Sexes  in  the  United 
States"  (Washington,  1004).  Figures  based  on  tiie  thirteenth  census 
(1910)  are  not  yet  available. 

>  Ihid.  For  a  more  elaborate  discussion,  see  Jean  Onillou's  L'tmign- 
tion  det  eampagnet  vers  let  vUUa  (Paris,  1005),  14^-295. 

*  Some  interesting  statistics  on  this  point  are  given  in  F.  J.  Ooodnow's 
Municipal  OovernmetU  (New  Tork,  1909),  28-31. 

'  Of  the  thirty-six  Amoican  cities  which  in  1800  had  populations 
exceeding  60,000,  twenty-four  had  an  excess  of  females;  but  in  1900  the 
females  outnumbered  the  males  in  twenty-seven  of  these  same  thirty-six 
cities.  The  three  cities  which  changed  columns  during  the  decade  woe 
Buffalo.  Los  Angeles,  and  T<dedo. 


THl  SOCIAL  8TRUCTUBI  OF  THE  CITY  31 

broad,  and  the  more  rapid  the  increase  of  popuUtion  the 
broader  this  base  becomes.    The  sides  of  the  pyramid  con- 
verge sharply  for  a  short  distance  above  the  base,  because 
the  mortaUty  of  infant  years  is  heavy;    the  convergence 
which  portrays  the  more  moderate  mortality  rates  of  youth 
and  middle  life  is  more  gradual;  and  finaUy  the  lines  close 
rapidly  in  the  years  above  threescore  and   ten.    Such   a 
population  is  normaUy  strongest  in  persons  of  immature 
age,  and  weakens  in  each  succeeding  decennial  age  period- 
but  m  the  United  States  the  foreign  influx  introduces  a 
new  element,  with  the  result  that  the  national  population, 
taken  as  a  whole,  shows  its  chief  strength  in  the  early 
middle-age   periods.*    In  tables  of   urban  residents    this 

•  The  robjotoed  <^.  reproduced  from  P»ul  Meuriofi  De,  aaoUmen. 
ho«.  «r6«.n«  *.„  r  Europe  contemp<^ine  (Pwi..  1897).  Ao^V^^ 


82 


GOVBBMMINT  OF  AMIRIGAN  OITm 


Thanml 
influs. 


feature  is  even  more  pronotmeed.  The  dty  populatioii 
IB  replenished  in  the  periods  of  youth  and  eariy  middle 
age  not  only  by  immigration  from  abroad,  but  by  the 
influx  from  the  rural  districts.  The  age  pyramia  bulges, 
therefore,  at  the  points  represented  by  these  periods  in 
life.  In  other  words,  the  city  acquires,  nudnly  at  the 
expense  of  the  rural  areas,  an  undue  strength  in  persons 
of  productive  age,  a  fact  which  forms  one  of  the  ohirf 
eor.tributory  causes  of  its  great  economic  capacity  per  head 
of  population. 

American  cities,  particularly  the  larger  ones,  have  pos- 
sessed this  magnetism  in  marked  degree.  They  have  drawn 
far  more  than  their  share  of  young  aliens,  and  at  the  same 
time  have  laid  heavy  toll  upon  the  country  districts  of  the 
land.*  The  call  of  the  city  is  heard  most  plainly  by  the 
able-bodied  young  man  or  woman ;  infants  and  persons  of 
advanced  years  do  not  ordinarily  come  to  the  populous 
community  save  as  dependents  upon  individuals  of  the 
productive  age.  The  drain  which  the  city  makes  upon 
the  rural  areas  cannot,  then,  be  measured  merely  by  coimt- 
ing  heads.  Those  who  seek  the  city's  opportunities,  its 
fellowship,  its  comforts,  and  its  human  interest  are  the 
best  blood  of  the  land,  the  vigorous,  the  ambitious,  and  the 
firm-willed  of  both  sexes ;  it  is  the  crippled,  the  dull,  and 
the  shiftless  who  commonly  remain  behind.*    Urban  populap 

<  Daring  Um  deeade  1890-1900  »boat  75  per  oent  of  the  altaw  iriio 
o«me  to  the  United  Stotee  wore  between  the  »am  at  15  and  40  ymn. 
Aa  wffl  be  pointed  out  •  Uttle  later,  most  <rf  theM  went  to  the  dtio.  In 
regard  to  the  age  distribution  of  thoee  who  oame  to  the  dtiee  fttau  the 
rural  diatriots  we  have  no  itatistieal  data,  but  then  is  no  good  reawm 
to  suppose  that  they  wwe  not  of  about  the  same  ages.  A  fuU  diseussion 
of  the  matter  may  be  found  in  the  census  Buttttin,  No.  13,  "A  Diseusdtm 
of  Age  Statistics  •»  (Washington.  1904).  The  census  of  1900  showed  that 
of  the  whole  national  popuUtion  40  per  oent  were  between  the  ages  of  16 
and  45,  but  that  of  the  popuUtion  <rf  the  cities  <rf  over  25,000  about  54 
per  cent  wwe  between  those  ages. 

» C.  M.  Robinson,  The  CaU  t^  Ou  CU^  (New  York,  1906). 


TM  80CIAI.  ITRUCTITBI  Or  TBI  CITT  88 

tion  ou^t,  therefore,  m  it  doc,  to  nuke  »  superior  ehowing 
in  wealth  and  income  per  head.  It  ought  to  diapby  quali- 
ties of  initiative ;  and  its  achievements  per  individual  should 

in  general  be  greater  than  those  of  rural  areas,  for  it  contains 
more  persons  of  achieving  age. 

m  United  States  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  land  par  OMtatk. 
^cdlen^  of  aUeu  accumuUtion,  and  in  truth  the  resort  to  ^P 
these  shores  during  the  last  four  decades  has  presented  a  ^^' 
phenomenon    unparaUeled    in    human    history.    Yet    the 
census  of  1900  showed  that  of  the  whole  national  nopuU- 
tion   less  than   14  per   cent  was  fordgn-bom.    Tb   the 
country  as  a  whole,  therefore,  the  aUen  influx  has  not 
pr«Mmted  any  unsolvable  problem  of  social  assimiktion  : 
but  If  one  regards  only  the  cities,  and  particuhuiy  the 
hirgM  cities,  one  finds  the  situation  to  be  veiy  different. 

i^''*^  °'  ""^^  ^*'^  **»«  foreign-bom  constituted, 
m  1900,  about  26  per  cent  of  the  population;  in  thos^ 
of  over  100,000  the  ratio  was  about  36  per  cent,  and  in 
K>me  of  the  largest  cities  it  ran  above  60  per  cent.    The 

f^X*^^^  *"  "*''*^  ^  '*"*  ^"^  "^  percentages 
The  reasons  for  the  strength  of  the  foreign-bom  element  b««»,o, 

mi^t  be  superficiaUy  supposed,  that  large  cities  are  usuaUy  ^^ 
ports  of  entry  for  European  immigrants,  and  that  the  im- 
nugrant  settles  down  at  his  first  point  of  arrival;  for  this 
would  not  «cplain  the  presence  of  great  alien  elements  in 
cities  hke  Chicago,  Cincimuiti,  and  St.  Louis.  The  real 
reasons  are  numerous,  and  they  are  chiefly  economic, 
imnugrants  of  some  nationaUties  do  go,  and  go  in  large 

n^K  w*"*  *^/  ™"^  ^"'^'  ^^«^«  agricultural  region, 
or  tue  West,  for  example,  are  peopled  by  Scandinavians, 
nie  greater  part  of  the  ahen  influx  has,  however,  during 
the  last  few  decades  at  any  rate,  come  from  the  countii« 

D 


i:i 


11 


Rdstton  of 
theaUen 
iaAis  to 
munidpal 
probhnu. 


84  OOVlRNMtNT  OF  AMBUCAN  CimS 

Of  Ea^m,  Middle,  and  Southern  Europe.    Thewj  raeee, 
SUvi,  Pole.,  Lithuaniana,  Italians,  Greeks,  and  Armenians, 
go  vtry  largely  to  the  urban  centres,  mainly  because  they 
come  here  with  neither  the  capital  nor  the  skiU  necessary 
to  enable  them  to  do  anything  ebe.    Although  many  of  them 
come  from  the  agricultural  regions  of  their  own  lands,  few 
brmg  any  knowledge  of  farming  that  would  be  of  much 
■ervice  to  them  here.    It  takes  a  Uttle  knowledge  to  be 
even  an  agricultural  laborer;    and  for  an  immigrant  to 
become  a  farmer  in  America  on  his  own  account  requires 
some  capital  as  well  as  some  knowledge,  whereas  to  obtain 
a  place  as  a  sewei-digger  or  as  a  rough  laborer  in  one  of  the 
various  urban  establishments  require.,  neither.    Most  im- 
migrants come  to  America  to  find  work;  and  they  go 
accordingly,  where  the  work  which  they  can  do  is  to  be 
found.    So  long  as  industry  concentrates  itself  in  the  large 
cities,  and  so  long  as  great  industries  present  a  steady 
demand  for  cheap,  unskilled  labor,  both  of  men  and  of 
women,  the  large  cities  wiU  naturaUy  get  most  of  those 
ahens  who  come  without  either  skill  or  sustenance.    About 
the  only  great  industry  employing  large  quantities  of  un- 
skilled labor  and  situated  outside  the  Urger  cities  is  that  of 
mming.    This  industry  does  draw  great  numbers  of  newly 
amv^  aUens  into  its  vortex.     It  is  chiefly  for  this  reason 
that  Pennsylvania  usuaUy  ranks  next  to  New  York  in  the 
statistics  of  immigrant  destinations. 

Social  as  well  as  economic  motives  of  course  have  their 
mfluence.  AUens  who  speak  only  their  own  language  like 
to  be  among  their  own  people  in  a  strange  land;  more- 
over their  passage  to  America  is  very  often  paid  for 
by  fnends  or  relatives  already  here.  When  a  colony  of 
any  nationality  is  once  started,  therefore,  the  social  motive 
comes  quickly  into  play.  AU  these  things  have,  however, 
been  so  fully  eUborated  by  writers  upon  the  ethnic  fac- 


THl  SOCIAL  8TRUCTU1UB  OF  THl  CITT  S5 

ton  in  city  govenunent  that  th^  need  no  further  diaeu*. 
■ion  here.*  »-w«w- 

The  problem  of  governing  the  sUte  and  the  nation  r»- 
mains  primarily  a  problem  of  governing  native  American.; 
but  the  taak  of  administering  the  affair,  of  the  larger  dtie. 
ha.,  a.  the  figure,  prove,  become  that  of  making  poUtical 
and  adminirtrative  provi«on  for  unit,  of  a  population  of 
which  a  very  large  portion  has  come  to  America  without 
wund  and  weU-fixed  political  tradition..    Thi.  i.  not  to 
say  that  the  aUen  element  i.  whoUy  or  even  mainly  reepon- 
«ble  for  the  fact  that  the  govermnent  of  great  dtiri. 
Amenca .     one  con.picuou.  failure."    No  American  city 
ha.  had  »w  affair,  more  coma.tently  mi«nanaged,  or  hM 

t^n  "^Ta  f  k*^°^  ''^''  ^i^olesome  municipal  tradition., 
than  PhihMielph|a;    yet  the  foreign-bom  element  in  the 
population  of  Philadelphia  i.  much  weaker  than  it  inZ 
any  of  the  other  dtie.  of  the  laigert  cla«.    Neverthelew 
the  fact  that  the  aUen-bom  bulk  la^  in  neariy  aU  W« 
citie.  of  any  con.iderable  me  doe.  complicate  the  problem, 
of  mumcipal  govermnent.     It   can   hardly   be  true,   for 
eicample,  that  the  influence  of  heredity  can  affect  the  bud- 
n^  aptitude.,  the  tarte.,  and  even  the  ideal,  of  race.,  and 
yet  be  without  bearing  upon  thdr  political  propendtie^ 
A  comaderable  proportion  of  thoee  who  have  come  to  America 
dunng  the  h«t  half^ntmy  are  men  who  did  not  po^ 

0»«e  Abbot  oiT^  Tmmi««.r  !J^»?  Im«%i»tion  on  Ptofitio.,"  ud 
w  M»  Mfttaooal  Mopjoipal  Laacne,  1900.  pp.  14»-18^  '^^"^mungt 


ist;:mimm,^ 


36 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


The  politi- 


vcting  rights  in  their  own  lands,  and  whose  fathers  before 
them  did  not  have  such  rights.    As  the  discreet  and  sober 
use  of  the  ballot  is  something  not  to  be  learned  in  a  day  or 
even  in  a  generation,  it  is  not  a  matter  for  surprise,  then, 
if  alien-bom  voters  have  often  proved  easy  prey  to  the 
sophistry  and  cajolery  of  claptrap  politicians.    To  a  suc- 
cessful exploitation  of  the  foreign-bom  voters  many  of  the 
worst  factors  in  urban  politics  have  been  indebted  for 
advancement. 
The    new   citizen   has   neither   political   traditions   nor 
tionoftiM     prejudices.    His  eye  is  on  the  present  rather  than  on  the 
"""  past.    Being  imable  to  go  to  sure  sources  of  information 

concerning  his  new  political  duties,   he  must   take  such 
misguiding  authorities  as  come  to  him.    These  are,  too 
often,  the  hired  henchman  of  his  own  race,  the  newspaper 
of  his  own  language  (which  is  frequently  kept  in  existence 
by  patronage  from  the  party  in  power),  or  the  native-bom 
political  roundsmen  who  cultivate  his  confidence  for  their 
own  ends.    All  these  make  it  appear  to  him  that  his  own 
immediate  advantage  can  be  best  served  by  following  the 
counsel  which  they  give;    and,  being  led  to  believe  that 
individual  interest  is  the  only  motive  which  actuates  Ameri- 
can-bom voters,  he  is  quite  liable  to  let  himself  be  thus 
exploited.    We  have  the  testimony  of  seasoned  campaigners 
that  the  alien-bom  voter  is  inclined  to  think  for  himself  if 
he  gets  the  opportunity ;  but  too  often  he  does  not  secure 
even  that  small  amount  of  fair  information  which  is  neces- 
sary to  furnish  food  for  thought.    As  a  rule,  practically  all 
that  he  gets  concerning  the  facts  of  the  municipal  situation 
comes  to  him  in  such  form  that  it  leads  to  one  conclusion 
only.    It  is  not  that  the  foreign-bom  voter  is  indiscriminat- 
ing,  or  that  he  always  prefers  to  vote  for  one  of  his  own 
race  or  religion.    Experience  has  proved  that  he  cannot 
always  be  stampeded  by  appeals  to  class  prejudice,  or 


THE  SOCIAL  STRUCTURE  OP  THE   JITY 


37 


dehvered  blindly  to  the  support  of  some  poUtical  faction. 
Given  a  fair  chance,  he  is,  according  to  authoritative  testi- 
mony, a  voter  of  at  least  normal  independence.    If  he  has 
too  often  proved  to  be  the  tool  of  the  exploiter,  it  is  largely 
because  a  system  of  partisan  nominations  and  a  beclouded 
baUot  have  given  the  latter  a  redoubtable  position.    Loyalty 
to  some  social  idea  or  custom  which  aUens  have  brought 
with  them  from  their  own  lands,  moreover,  sometimes  out- 
weighs their  aversion  to  boss-domination.     Time  and  again 
in  cities  like  New  York  and  Chicago  it  has  been  found  impost 
able  to  to  get  various  bodies  of  foreign-bom  citizens  to  range 
themselves  on  the  side  of  honest  and  decent  city  government, 
owing  to  inter-racial  jealousies  and  a  fear  that  a  change  of 
administration  would  mean  interference  with  their  Sunday 
recreations  or  other  social  customs. 

In  any  case,  the  presence  of  the  large  alien  element  in  urban 
areas  gives  the  cities  of  the  United  States  a  prime  interest 
m  the  terms  of  the  naturaU;gation  Uw,  in  the  rigid  enforce- 
ment  of  this  statute,  in  aU  regulations  pertaining  to  the 
selection  of  immigrants,  and,  indeed,  in  every  matter  lelat- 
mg  to  the  immigration  poUcy  of  the  nation.  The  enormous 
assimilating  power  of  the  American  people  has  often  been 
commented  upon  by  students  of  sociology;  but  it  is  not  by 
the  American  people  as  a  whole  that  this  process  is  pei^ 
formed.  Most  of  the  task  falls  upon  the  hirger  cities  of 
the  country,  and  it  would  therefore  be  surprising  if  mu- 
nicipal institutions  did  not  in  some  degree  feel  the  strain. 

A  unit  of  population  constituting  a  large  city,  when  con-  tt^j-. 
trasted  with  a  u)   -.  of  equal  size  drawn  from  rural  districts,  "«^"' 
shows  marked  differences  in  its  birth,  marriage,  and  death  ^ 
rates.     In  the  matter  of  births  it  seems  to  be  generaUy 

m^r^^t'^^'^r^^'^  *°  ^*^  P««^  <«»*  »••  *°  *•  birth. 
n«m»e.  and  death  rates)  are  not  avaflable  for  th«  whole  United  St^ 
but  only  for  what  i.  offloiaUy  (en»>d  th«  ."r.,lrti»tion  arT"    tS 


38 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


1.  Birtb- 
rmtM. 


2.  Mar- 
riat»-ntM. 


true  that  the  number  per  thousand  of  population  is  almost 
always  greater  in  urban  than  in  rural  communities.  In- 
deed, it  has  been  laid  down  as  a  working  rule  that  the 
birth-rate  varies  directly  with  density  of  population  and 
inversely  with  sparseness.  A  superficial  explanation  of  the 
situation  in  America  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  aliens, 
among  whom  the  birth-rate  is  high,  are  numerous  in  urban 
populations ;  but  that  would  not  explain  why  the  birth- 
rate is  larger  among  the  native-bom  in  cities  than  among 
the  same  element  in  rural  districts.  The  real  explanation 
of  this  disparity,  as  of  many  other  social  phenomena,  is 
probably  economic.  Since  the  national  birth-rate  is  to  a 
considerable  extent  dependent  upon  general  economic  con- 
ditions, rising  in  times  of  prosperity  and  falling  in  times  of 
depression,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  the  higher  birth-rate 
of  the  urban  community  connects  itself  with  the  city's 
superiority  over  the  rural  district  in  point  of  wage-earning 
power  per  capita.' 

The  urban  marriage-rate  per  10,000  of  population  is 
also  considerably  higher  than  the  rural.  This  is  accounted 
for  in  part  jy  the  fact  that  the  city  is  proportionately 
stronger  in  persons  of  marriageable  age,  in  part  by  the 
greater  accuracy  with  which  marriage  records  and  statistics 
are  kept  there,  and  in  part  by  the  fact  that  many  marriages 
which  ought  to  -•  +o  rural  statistics  are  credited  to  the 
city  in  which  tl  lony  happens  to  have  been  performed. 

The  economic    ^.i        of  greater  income-earning  power  per 
individual  also  has  its  influence. 


if' 


•Tea,  which  covers  most  of  the  Eutern  and  Middle,  tome  of  the  Western, 
and  parts  of  a  few  Southern  states,  comprises  slightly  over  one-half  of 
the  total  population  of  the  Union. 

'But  this  is  a  matter  upon  which  demographical  authorities  widdy 
disagree.  An  interesting  discussion  of  the  matter  by  C.  A.  Verrijn-Stuart 
may  be  found  in  the  BuUetin  dt  VintUvt  iiOenationaU  dt  «(a<M<ifftM.  xiii 
(1903),  357-368. 


THE  SOCIAL  STRUCTURE  OP  THE  CITY 


39 


The  city,  as  is  weU  known,  has  a  death-rate  per  thousand  8.  d^ 
ve^  much  above  that  of  the  countiy,  a  social  phenoZon  ^^^^ 
which  seems  to  have  held  true  in  aU  periods  and  in^ 

Z^"a         TJ''  ^''"^"''^^  "'^^^  ^-^^-ate  of  the 
M  ddle  Ages  and  the  early  modem  centuries  that  kept  the 

atlon.  In  London  the  ordinaiy  death-rate  of  the  s^en- 
teenth  centuiy  is  estimated  to  have  been  about  fifty  per- 
sons  per  thousand  of  population  each  year;  and  it  was  not 
till  about  1800  that  the  annual  death'rate  ™t  iLw  the 

sZ^tT  *'r'"  ^"^«-«  *^«  ^^y  to  aoliev 
some  growth  through  natural  increase.    In  this  respect 

London  was  not  unique  among  Eu«>pean  cities;   on^Ie 

contraiy,  her  showmg  was  probably  better  than  that  of  the 

other  great  centres.    Nor  was  the  situation  veiy  di^rent 

^^t^n     r       '   ""  '"^  ''  ^"^  ^PP^  t°  1^  th«» 
mne  een.    The  enormous  advances  made  by  the  science  of 

medicme,  mcluding  improvements  in  sanitation,  Zll 

ress  in  j^rsonal  hygiene,  in  arrangements  for  preventing  tht 

eveiy  large  American  city  during  the  last  three  decades.^ 
ma^IS^'atl^ttL:  ^u::^^^^^-^^'^'^  ^JT^'^  -tie. 


u      ii 


GMUMOf 

tbeUch 

urban 

dwtlMste. 


H    I 


I 


The  death- 
rate  as  a 
barometer 
of  admiiii*- 
trative  effi- 
ciency. 


'■m 


40 


OOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


But,  with  it  all,  the  city  death-rate  continues  at  every 
stage  of  human  life  to  be  higher  than  that  of  the  rural 
district.    Especially    is    this    true,    as  one  might  expect, 
among  children  under  five  years  of  age.    In  lai^er  cities 
the  infant  mortality  is  from  twice  to  three  times  that  of 
rural  areas  having  an  equal  number  of  children;  in  the 
case  of  children  under  one  year  of  age  the  discrepancy  is  very 
much    greater.    Many   circumstances    combine    to  bring 
about  this  situation.    The  poverty,  the  cramped  quarters, 
and  the  general  lack  of  even  elementary  necessities  with 
which  the  population  of  congested  urban  districts  has  to 
contend  account  for  much  of  it.    It  is  the  tenement  wards 
of  the  large  city  that  make  the  figures  of  infant  mortality 
what  they  are.    The  employment  of  married  women,  par- 
ticularly of  the  poorer  classes,  in  wearing  industrial  occu- 
pations is  also  a  factor  of  importance,  as  is  shown  by  the 
heavy  infant  mortality  of  those  cities  in  which  textile  in- 
dustries prevail.^    In  any  event,  much  of  the  heavy  loss 
of  population  in  its  eariicr  years  is  admittedly  preventable; 
its  continuance  is  due  largely  to  public  failure  to  realize 
the  seriousness  of  the  situation  and  to  official  apathy  in 
the  attempts  made  to  remedy  it.*   It  has  been  demonstrated, 
for  example,  that  the  annual  infant  mortality  in  large  cities 
can  be  greatly  reduced  by  strict  inspection  and  control  of 
the  milk  supply,  yet  this  is  a  matter  which  in  many  com- 
munities has  received  but  half-hearted  attention  from  the 
municipal  authorities. 

Of  all  conservation  measures  none  can  be  more  worthy 
than  those  which  have  for  their  end  the  conservation  of 
huTian  life.    It  is  in  the  infant  mortaUty  of  the  cities,  large 

•  See  the  interesting  table  printed  in  P.  J.  Gkxxlnow's  Mtmieipal  Chw 
ernment  (New  York,  1909),  30-31. 

•  National  Conservation  Commission,  Bulletin  of  At  Committee  of  One 
Hundred  on  National  HeaUh;  being  a  Report  on  Nationtd  Vitalitif,  it$ 
Watte  and  Conaermtion,  prepared  by  Professor  Irving  Fisher,  July,  1909. 


i*»  SOCIAL  8TRUCTUM  01>  THB  dTT 


41 


•     Concentration  of  poDuIati-onT     /       *^  *°^  «mUtion. 
the  Vitality  of  a  ^^To^^:J;-Z.'''^,  T" 
energy,  and  money  can  this  diL  be^  °"*^^  °'  •^' 
water^upply  system,  the^w«^  !L        ""  "^^"^    ^« 
ard  recreation  grounds  th^JhT  ««»ngement8,  the  parks 
far  as  they  o^  tl,  tlf    ?' *^' *"^*  ^•'^««  ^  «o 
department^  thrj^^tlX  S^;^'  tt^  .^"'"^'^*^ 
food, -nearly  everv  h«.«  iTT  ?^^    '  *^®  ""Pection  of 

mortality.    Much  as  *11  *h^      ^       ®  ^«'*^  o^  "»f»nt 
-and  t'he^pre'mlf^To:^^:^^^^ 
mortality  rates  of  the  part  fe^T  1^  ""  *^'  ^^'^^ 
loses,  by  its  high  deaTh^^rm^  decades,- ti»e  dty  stiH 

an  excess  of  S«     Ap^'fre^th  "^*  '*  «*^  *^»«* 
difference  between  the  STanTd  *t       "1*  '"^''^^y'  «»• 
-atter  of  death-rati  is^'Tg^^     V^  ^^  -  tke 
proportion  of  the  city's  ^^^  J^^*^^*"  *  ^*^ 
racking  strain  of  city  h^!^  7.  ^   "^.*"  ^^^^^^^ 
rate  of  the  urban  coL^t"    S^t^rf  "if' '••^- 
extra-hazardous   occuDationf  «#   -^         *  hazardous  and 
a-  urban  emp^^^^Td  l::^^!^   ""^^ 
are  at  least  semi-accident^  so^^^T^  ^T^,  '^'^^^ 
contracting  tht^m  «,      ■**'«»  lar  as  the  usual  methods  of 

dweUe„.  ^    ^  ^'  '^  P^^^^y  the  diseases  of  dty 

Surveying  the  field  of  vital  ^^. 

sees  clearly  that  the  rlT^J!^  "  •  ^o^^'  one  n.*^. 
net  contribution  to  tl^^"^^"^^,  ^^  •  ««ater  S^ 
do  the  cities     Wheil^K  —         1  ^^"""^  Population  than  "^ 
t'y  ought,  t  th?a^,*^:;  "'  *''  '"''^•^^°»  ''  •  «^  ""^ 
rate  of  national  ^b     Pc3^.^""'  *"  "^  »  -^O'"'' 

°^  England's  de<S  J^^^  II'T^  -^^'™' 

growth  m  population  may  be  in 


42 


OOVBBNMENT  OF  AMKBICAN  CITIBS 


Phjnrioal 
rlriUty. 


The  older 
notion. 


What  the 
facte  di»- 


part  explained  by  the  steady  drift  of  the  Engliah  population 
iiitu  urban  centres. 

A  good  deal  used  to  be  said  and  written  about  the  de- 
bilitating effect  of  urban  life  upon  individual  physique. 
Nothing  seemed  easier  to  establish  than  i  priori  conclunons 
as  to  the  superior  physical  development  of  the  rural  popu- 
lation. It  was,  indeed,  so  far  taken  for  granted  that  the 
rural  militiaman  was  physically  superior  to  the  townsman, 
that  one  of  the  stock  arguments  for  the  encouragement  of 
English  agriculture  by  com  laws  and  other  protective  legis- 
lation was  the  necessity  of  preserving  that  yeomanry  of 
England  which  was  alleged  to  furnish  the  military  sinew  of 
the  kingdom.  There  are,  of  course,  a  great  many  reasons 
why  the  per  capita  physical  attainment  of  the  country 
ought,  if  it  could  be  measured,  to  be  greater  than  that  of 
the  town.  That  minute  division  of  labor  in  urban  indus- 
tries which  even  in  Adam  Smith's  day  required  a  man  to 
spend  his  lifetime  in  making  the  nineteenth  part  of  a  pin, 
nowadays  gives  him  an  even  more  specialized  task  in  pro- 
duction. Most  urban  occupations  develop  only  a  very 
small  part  of  the  worker's  physical  powe^is,  whereas  the 
rural  employments  encourage  bodily  versatility  and  all- 
roimd  physical  development. 

When  one  attempts  to  adduce  accurate  statistical  evidence 
of  this  rural  prowe»  in  point  of  physical  development, 
however,  one  does  not  find  the  e]q>ected  proofs  so  readily 
forthcoming.  Statistical  data  to  prove  or  to  disprove  the 
claim  are  not  to  be  had  in  America,  for  there  is  in  this  country 
no  arrangement  for  recording  the  ph3rsical  measurements  of 
typical  sections  of  the  population.  Prisoners  in  jails, 
athletes  in  training,  applicants  for  places  on  city  police 
forces,  newly  enlisted  men  in  the  army  or  navy,  are  all 
measured  and  the  results  are  put  on  paper;  but  these 
classes,  even  taken  together,  form  so  small  a  part  of  the 


THl  SOCIAL  »rBDOTDBE  OF  TM  clTr  « 

th«.  comtm.  of  c«atm«,w  Europe,  ™ch  TtZ!^ 
whote  .dull  Bule  popuUtion  i.  rebjectrt,  action  by«rtior 

«„ii;         #  *««  «  w  Dased  upon  the  measurements  of  manv 
mJJions  of  men  drawn  from  aU  section.  duZ^Se^ 

tftat  city  life  is  phymcaUy  debUitating.    Qn  the  contr*^/ 

me^mtt^rfoT^"*"  "*  '**'  ^^''  ""^ 
recruTw  V^        ,       '  «»  ««»y  cases  higher  among 

tT«^  ?^?  /"**  "*"  ^^  «»o»«  t^^ose  drafted  from 
the  popuUtion  of  the  large  cities.    Tmay  beToftuT 

that  many  of  those  who  enter  the  amiyfromV^tir^' 
bom  m  the  county;  but  that  factor  alone  wouW  «1^ 
account  for  the  urban  superiority  which  the  ^y  s^^ 

wmch  disputes  popukr  notions  concerning  the  mt^rinriZ 

1^  t::,  ir^  I'  pky-.^^^^.^'S 

evoy  one  who  hM  given  the  nutter  caieful  obeervatio, 
Meteenth  centuiy,  conunented  upon  the  euperior  powei. 
toe  «rt»ni„t.on  of  .  people  n««a  ph^cj  Z^L- 
»"*•     ="«■.  rtrength,  Mrf  ,ig„,  .rtdentljr  depend  Ie» 


i    !i 


Relative 
inteileotual 
Bt. 


!■  the  intel- 
lectual lU- 
perioritjr  of 
the  city 
■uumed  or 
reair 


u 


OOVBRNMINT  OF  AMKRICAN  CITII8 


■.I 


on  place  of  residence  and  occupation  than  upon  cleanli- 
ness, variety  of  diet,  and  prompt  attention  to  minor 
bodily  ills. 

The  balance-sheet  of  a  people's  intellectual  attainment 
is  something  that   cannot   very  well    be  cast    in  figures. 
Having  no  gauge  of  popular  erudition,  one  can  make  only 
a  general  comparison  of  urban  with  rural  populations  as 
regards  the  percentage  of  illiterates  found  in  each.    The 
census  of  1900  showed  that,  whereas  17.4  per  cent  of  the 
total  white  population  of  the  United  States  over  ten  years  of 
age  was  classed  as  illiterate,  the  proportion  in  cities  of  over 
25,000  was  only  4.4.  per  cent,  and  this  despite  the  presence 
of  the  large  alien  element  in  them.*    This  greater  freedom 
of  the  urban  centres  from  illiteracy  is  due  in  part  to  their 
superior  day-school  facilities  and  to  their  better  enforcement 
of  the  laws  relating  to  compulsory  education;   but  to  a 
greater  degree  it  is  perhaps  attributable  to  the  supplemen- 
tary agencies  of  crude  education  in  which  the  dij  abounds, 
—  the  night  school,  the  neighborhood  house,  and,  by  no 
means  least,  the  daily  newspaper.    In  the  city,  moreover, 
the  pressure  put  upon  the  iUiterate  is  very  great;  even  the 
least  remunerative  employments  open  to  youths  require 
that  the  employee  shall  be  able  to  read  and  write. 

It  may  be  urged  that  although  the  city  may  thus  make  a 
better  showing  at  the  lowest  rung  of  the  inteUectual  Udder, 
it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  the  general  average  of 
intelligence  or  of  mental  achievement  in  it  is  any  greater 
than  in  the  country.  We  have  been  assured,  at  any  rate, 
that  the  city-dweUer's  assumed  superiority  in  knowledge 
is  only  superficial,  that  "scattered  and  unrelated  fragments 

There  u  also  an  exeeUent  study  of  the  whole  matter,  bawd  on  dato  nth- 
wed  during  the  Boer  War,  in  the  Britiih  Blue  Book  o(  1904  im  "Phyrieal 
Detencvation." 

o.  '.®T^°{.**'*  Cennu,  BvllHtn,  No.  26.  "IffitwaCT  in  the  United 
States"  (Washington.  1905). 


TH«  SOCIAL  8TBUCTUBI  OF  THl  CITY 


4ft 


of  hdf-baked  information  form  a  stock  of  'knowledge'  with 
wmch  the  townaman'.  glib  tongue  enables  him  to  pLrna 
^tZJ"   !?"•*  ^P-''^"*'"     Most  of  the  S^ald 

It  IS  said,  by  rural-bred  men.  Thew  are,  howev«^  no  con- 
elusive  ways  of  determining  the  extent  to  ;hich  th^^^e^ 
supenonty  of  the  town«nan  in  point  of  education  U^ 
ranted;  consequently  the  worid  continues  to  take  him  at 
h«  own  value.  If  it  be  true  that  education  is  laigely  a 
mat  er  of  opportunity,  there  iseveiy  reason  why  thel^,enJ 
of  urban  commumties  should  make  the  better  iowimr 

Many  sermons  have  been  preached  upon  the  inferiority  st-^ 
^tr  Tt!!;"^!'^'  '"*'  "^«  *^*  legations  c"ce^  SSS 
t^     J^"*"*^  ^^^'"^  development   of  the  city-bom, 

than   biassed  and  uncomprehensive  observation.'    There 

s^nd^Tjr^"^""  °'  '^^'^^  "^o'*^'    '-the 
standa«fa  of  diflferent  races  are  never  fairly  comparable, 

nor  are  those  of  different  sections  of  the  same  peo^e  ^ 
the  stati8ti<»  of  the  crimmal  courts  may  be  brought  forward^ 
show"  'r^^'l^r'^  "^  ^^^  «^*y  ^^^^  a'ratlT;^; 
debited  with  two  or  three  times  their  due  share  of  the  nation's 
con^ctedcnminals.  There  a«,  however,  some  things  to  be 
noted  in  extenuation  of  this  discreditable  urban  achievement. 

l^LTTv,'  r^'""^  *'''  '"^'  °^«'  "«'  ^  -eiy  one 
tto^  .'  ^'''***  of  malefactors  whom  they  ha!;  not 
tutored  into  cnme.  The  country  youth  of  vicious  disposi- 
tion  18  pretty  sure  to  drift  whei^  his  propensities  can  &id 

^  J.  A.  Hob^m.  TA.  *«rfrt<<m  (^  Jf  Oder,  Cop«a/<m  (New  York.  W04). 


TorlJ'liS)!^**'*  "*  '"^  ^*~°*'  ^*'  ^««^'*  <^«-«r»  C<«»  (New 


fl 


w  > 


t 


46 


OOVUINMINT  or  AMIBICAN  CITIIS 


scope;  but  the  city  which  must  bear  the  bnrnt  of  his  lat«r 
eriminal  record  is  not  the  author  of  hit  waywardncM.    It  is 
not  because  the  moral  plane  is  lower  in  the  urban  centres 
that  the  criminal  classns  gravitate  there ;  it  is  only  because 
density  of  population  affords  greater  opportunity  for  gain- 
ing the  emoluments  of  crime,  and  at  the  same  time  better 
chances  of  escaping  detection.    Crimes  against  the  person 
—  assaults  and  the  like  —  are  not  relatively  more  numerous 
in  the  city  than  in  the  rural  area;  but  the  city  is  more 
prolific  in  crimes  against  property,  such  as  burglary,  larceny, 
and  embezzlement,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  the  temp- 
tations to  these  offences  are  stronger  where  things  of  high 
value  are  thrust  continuously  before  the  eyes  of  the  covetous. 
In  the  city,  moreover,  the  vicissitudes  of  employment  are 
many.    Men  are  at  work  to-day  and  out  of  work  to-morrow ; 
hence  there  is  always  an  idle  element,  and  this  element  is, 
from  its  lack  of  honest  earnings,  under  pressure  to  transgress 
the  laws.    The  saloon,  the  opium-dive,  the  brothel,  and 
those  pawnbrokers  who  seek  their  profits  from  the  fruits 
of  thievery,  are  each  entitled  to  a  fair  share  in  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  city's  criminal  record;  yet  they  are  all  ex- 
crescences upon  normal  urban  life  rather  than  essential 
features   of  it.*    Their   elimination   is,  however,  scarcely 
within  the  range  of  to-morrow's  possibilities ;  hence,  while 
cities  remain  what  they  are,  the  urban  crime  rate  is  likely  to 


Urban 

growth  and  ^ .         ,  .   , 

the  increaM  Continue  high 


ot  aime. 


The  expandiiij:  crime  ratio  of  the  United  States,  taken  as 
a  whole  during  the  last  two  or  three  decade  l-.a  given  rise 
to  serious  misgivings  in  the  minds  of  many  students  of 
social  statistics ;  but  this  development,  it  may  be  suggested, 
is  possibly  no  more  than  a  corollary  to  the  steady  shifting  of 

>  Those  who  ar«  interested  in  this  topic  win  find  a  readable  enay  on 
rCfreat  Cities,  ard  their  Influence  for  Good  and  Evil "  in  Charles  Khtgdey't 
MuctUanUa  (2  vols.,  London,  1860),  II.  31fr-345. 


Tffl  SOCIAL  8TRUCTUM  OF  TM  CITT  47 

much  <rf  tt,  „«„^       ^  i^  ^toST-Tr^  " 

*  ■  people,  but  becaiue  the  urban  etmi,^  ..«.    j 

^ti- t^^^'L'j'tvr  '^  r  "•^•^  '^^  ■"^^ 

.»»  1        .f*"*"  "'»*  of  the  nirel  eommunitiea     (M  <l.. 
total  w«ia,  of  th.  U»it«i  Stat«,  „  «t^^in  l«2r 

•kM  double  it.  pK,,K>rtioii.te  Am.    Th-T^Cr 
however,  iaclude  p««n.l  „  wdl  „  «J  Z^n?  iH*"' 

mitr  17^      •  T.      i^^  ■"ortgsged  farmiome.  Me  bo 
TrfL    .f^    ^™'*'"*'"»'*"°'*'^«'>""7-    But,  with 

the  tu«l  popuUfon  of  the  Daited  St.te.  i.  much  h«ger 


t*Mi*l 


P»p«ty 
1  loa- 


11 

Id 


Other  pointi 
of  cotupaii- 


M  QOVBBNltXNT  OF  A&fSBICAN  CITIIS 

than  that  in  the  urban.  It  seems,  in  ieed,  to  be  a  law  of 
nrban  concentration  that  tr .  more  roagested  the  popula- 
tion the  ].>wer  becomes  th»'  ratio  >f  h.)me-c,vv  mng  families. 
In  Baltimore  this  ratio  was  27.9  per  cen  ,  in  <  iu  igo  25.1  per 
eent,  in  Boston  18.9  per  cent,  in  Ntw  Yurk  i2.1  per  cent, 
and  in  the  crowded  boroughs  of  Manhattan  ;  nd  the  Bronx 
only  5.9  pvr  cent. 

This  mark«-<i  difference  in  the  ratif      f  hoaK^ownerf   to 
total  population,  as  betwetn  riv  and  ru  al  an  .«-.  i,   me  oi 
great  social  and  poliUoai   importance.    That       iet.aab! 
inspiration   to  thriu   which  Johi    Stuari    Mi!      ,  ^ 
"  magic  of  property,"  and  which  h    redited  with  t         -V 
of  turning  sand  into  gold,  is  m.rc  ^taeral  an  1  moi.  c:    . 
in  country  than  in  town.     Jt    ^  wU  kn..      that      wiuc- 
spread  ownership  of  pre  ^«ty  makrs  for  r  ,i  ervai    m  and 
soberness  in  popuUr  t  waght    wi   reas     he   propertyless 
element  is  Uable  to  be  radical  in  its  poUr        social,  and  eco- 
nomic ^  ews.     fheh.  tory  of  nations  jiffor  -.  pienty  of  evidence 
that  urban  centres  an  impatient  of  the  alow  course  which 
social  and  poUtical  imtitui    ns  commca  ^  take  in  working 
out  their  own  evolution,  and  lienc  •  i\  ir  growth  is  sui« 

to  promote  radicalism  m  aU  dep  rt  moats  o  :  bought.  It 
has  done  so  u  the  United  State  r^g  tht  hist  twenty 
or  thr-^v  ye;  ..  Urban  c  centratiou  means,  accorxiingly, 
that  I  iandles'  a,  .n  rises  t  .uprens  xcy  in  the  voting-lists, 
that  1  pru>  -owning  e  ment  dwindles  in  relative  im- 
portai  ^,  an.  t  thi  ugh  c.is  wide  difference  an  antaff. 
oms!  uf  mtei  betwe  the  wo  classes  is  Ukely  to  be 
aroused.  The  ruru  di.sfrict.  its  broad  diffusion  of 
owners  aps,  possess  a  strong  u  iv,  to  sober  habits  of 
though      the  large  city  does  not  i.av.  this  advantage. 

There  ire  man  other  viewpoints  from  which  the  urban 
;md  rrorai  populatiuns  of  the  United  States  might  be  subjected 
to  fair  compandor!  but  enough  have  been  used  to  show  that 


THl  aOCUX.  iTRUnTUBI  OF  THB  CITT  40 

^^Ifr""^  "^  *"  ''''  -^'•^  *«*™  <rf  the  two. 

females  or  weaker  in  it-  ratio  of  illiterate.  .^^^ 

TaCt^r  T"^*'°"  *^^  di^inctive^^'eSr 
Taken  together,  however,  the  variation.  d,ow  a  diffei«JS 

mmak^p  both  great  and  important.    It  Tto  bTj^ 

ab.  ™it!  ^^^^^^'^^  «y«'  «»  not  rtatiBticaUy  comput- 
•bi       Differences  between  urban  and  rural  DonuhZn;  i« 

hoLrrt^  °'  '^^'  ^  ''^  »>'^h7;s^j; 

honson,  in  then-  average  quaUties  of  initiative  vtn^JrTn^ 
and  eonst^cy,  in  their  capaeity  to  develop  ."iJT^rT; 
ideab,- these  are  thing,  whieh  cannot  be  ^  f^  f! 

l-Twi?^-    I- «>e  public  in^^tlTn  l^city 

-       ilT*n^     ""^  '?*"  ~""^  •"**  °«*«^  motives  fiU 
an^  and  govern  the  acts  of  men,  a  place  of  excessive 

tr  V**:  'T^}^'^^  '-^  »  almost  a^; 
^,  through  the  incessant  shifting  of  the  r^n\l 
no  .Aood  tradition,  can  everTZe  ISj  JZ^' 

doe^.  enom^  in  Its  continued  submisrion  to  pubhc  ab^f 

social  unit  and  too  much  upon  artificial  oigani«itions  that 

InT"  r.''  ^  "»  ^•'^  ^  "Itimate  accoTplishnTt  U 
aU  th«e  traits  could  be  weighed  in  the  bawTnT ihe" 
-tensity  determined,  the  real  extent  of  the  modem  cty!^ 
influence  upon  national  life,  and  of  its  departure?  "L 
rural  umt  m  texture  and  problems,  could  be  mr  ^ 

measured. 

It  is  in  the  great  cities  of  the  land  that 
national  life  come  face  to  face.    There  it  is 
est  culture  stares  down  the  street  at  unall 


u 


a 


■  k 


50 


OOVERNMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Theenidbl* 
of  dtiMn- 
•Up. 


The  extremes  of  personal  wealth  and  poverty  are  also  there. 

If  one  desires  the  best  in  men  of  science,  of  art,  of  industry, 

one  will  find  them  in  the  large  city ;  if  one  wants  the  worst 

types  of  illiteracy,  depravity,  and  indolence,  one  will  find 

them  there  too.    It  is  from  this  heterogeneity  that  the 

population  of  the  city  derives  its  individ  alism;  it  is  this 

that  accounts  for  the  »ang-froid  with  which  one  half  of  it 

regards  the  way  in  which  the  other  half  lives.    As  a  fair 

consequence  of  this  oil-and-water  amalgam  of  its  population, 

the  city  will  undoubtedly  continue  to  present  both  the 

highest  achievements  in  political  virtue  and  the  basest 

spectacles  of  political  vice.     Across  its  warp  of  sacking,  as 

Mr.  Bryce  puts  it,  are  woven  threads  of  silver  and  gold. 

Into  this  great  melting-pot  of  American  municipal  life 

the  baser  elements  of  indifference,  irnorance,  and  greed, 

together  with  the  finer  elements  of  inteUigence,   public 

spirit,  and  self-sacrifice,  must  be  poured,  and  out  of  the 

mass  will  come   the  composite  of  American  citizenship. 

The  modem  metropolis,  whether  in  America  or  elsewhere, 

is  neither  an  Athens  nor  a  Gomorrah ;  it  is  both  rolled  into 

one.    In  the  rural  commtmity,  which  has  the  features  of 

neither  one  nor  the  other,  the  problem  of  maintaining  a 

reasonable  standard  of  ideab  and  achievements  is  easier 

than  in  the  city,  where  these  things  must  be  determined 

by  the  might  of  the  stronger  among  its  modem  Hellenes 

and  Philistines.*    That  the  city's  influence  upon  the  political, 

social,  and  economic  ideals  of  the  whole  people  ought  by 

every  effort  to  be  thrown  into  the  proper  channel  is  of  the 

>  "The  city  b  the  ipeotitMoope  of  eodety ;  it  ualjnee  and  riftt  the 
popuktion,  leiMnting  and  claadfying  the  divene  element!.  The  entira 
progrew  of  eiviUiation  ia  a  proeeas  of  differentiation,  and  the  dty  it  the 
cnatest  differentiator.  The  mediocrity  of  the  country  is  toaufcwoied  by 
the  city  into  the  higheat  talent  <»  the  loweet.  Oeniiu  is  often  ham  in 
the  country,  but  it  is  brought  to  li^t  and  devdoped  by  the  dty." —A.  F 
Webeb,  The  Ormeth  ef  Citia  in  the  Nindeenih  CaUvrg  (Now  Yorii,  lS)9)i 


THE  SOCUL  STRUCTURE  OP  THE  CITY 


51 


most  vital  importance;  for  the  urban  population  is  in  ef- 
fect more  influential  than  its  numerical  strength  impUes. 
As  the  element  which  supplies  the  leaders  of  thought,  and 
which  through  its  press  has  an  incalculable  influence  upon 
the  mouldmg  of  public  opinion,  it  must  be  credited  with 
far  more  than  forty-five  per  cent  of  the  responsibiUty  for 
the  successes  or  the  failures  of  American  political  life. 
Tlie  problems  of  the  city  are  not,  therefore,  the  problems 
of  Its  own  citizens  alone.    The  proper  solution  of  them  is 
of  vital  moment  to  all  who  value  American  ideals;  for  the 
ideab  of  a  nation  are  determined  by  the  most  influential 
among  various  elements  of  its  population,  and,  being  so 
determmed,  they  are  in  constant  process  of  change.    The 
course  of  alteration  is  unheralded  by  any  blast  of  trumpets, 
and  It  often  evades  even  the  notice  of  trained  observers. 
Transformations  in  the  poUtical  or  the  social  psychology  of 
a  people  proceed  insidiously.    Hence  it  is  that  a  general 
betterment  of  popular  ideals  may  descend  on  a  Und,  like 
as  an  angel,  unawares,  or  a  deterioration  may  come  even 
as  a  thief  in  the  night. 

As  the  city,  then,  with  aU  that  it  expresses  and  impUes   xn-dv.. 
must  be  the  controlling  factor  in  the  national  lifeof  thefuture'  **««'*^ 
there  is  no  service  more  truly  patriotic  than  that  of  helping 
to  make  rt  a  better  place  for  men  to  live  in.    True  patriotism; 
as  has  been  well  said,  requires  "not  only  that  a  man  shaU 
be  ready  to  make  the  supreme  sacrifice  for  his  country's 
salvation,  but  that  he  shaU  stand  evei^ready  to  devote  his 
time  and  talents  to  the  less  conspicuous  but  equaUy  momen- 
tous duty  of  maintaining  pubUc  order,  protecting  private 
property,  and  preserving  the  lives  of  his  fellows  against  the 
dangers  which  lurk  in  foul  tenements,  in  miclean  food,  and 
m  that  whole  field  of  civic  administration  whose  mismanage- 
meat  leaves  a  traU  of  misery  through  the  habitations  of 
the  poor.      To  make  the  city,  as  Henry  Drummond  has 


S2 


!:l 


(i  !  - 


oovKBNMrar  OF  iMBmcAN  orras 


r«mnded  u,  „  what  w  «*  he«  for.  "He  who  nmka  th. 
c.ty  „.k«  the  world.  For  though  men  may  ^J^t^' 
«  «  after  aU  the  citie.  which  mke  m m  \^  ™^' 
..tional  life  i,  great  or  mean,  whetherTur  ^^Z 
«  mature  or  rtunted,  wh«h.r  our  «,„.  a^""" 

f omi^.2poS.^t  ef^-imrtf^rri^: 

clasP'c  of  social  literature."  ^** 

RmKKNCCS 

state.  B««.u  of  the  Cel^Za^  Z^J"^'"^  ^^  ^  ^'"^^ 
cennW  enumeration.  ThT  bS^^wff  ?*" '"^"^  ««*  «»•- 
distribution  of  populatioTSv  iS  ^''^S  *^'!  ^^  ■"•*  *<"»««  "  the 

ratee,  the  ownership  <rf  Mouertv   »n!i™  ...  '^  "®  ''"^  •"*•  <*«»tl» 

dude  «.me  interesUn?  SZ]^""^  Tl^^^  T^  ""^  ^ 
Two  excellent  monoS^pfcTdS^i^th^L^  "^"^  ^^  ~»*^ 
modem  city  .re  P^^TlnL^l^jr^^  "•*«"ny  of  the 

iV.«*feentt  Cen<«ry  (NeTrOTk  l4)  J!!?!,'  *^^  *^  «^«"  ^"^ 
question,  of  ethni!  .tructJ^.  ni,  l^k.^^^f  ^^  0»  «>•  ««»«.! 

1809) ;  P.  A.  Budiee'.  Jfinfc  F^S^^l  M'^nhnUanvilU  (New  York. 
York.  1903);   and  E.  E.  SitVS«2^r  "^^^  "^  *«^  <^«^ 

contain,  a  UMful  bibUomJlw  m«S„  l^'.j^*  iMt-named  volume 
Jone.'.  Sociology  of  o  jJSTJwi  rt^V^  ■»«>  be  made  of  T.  J. 
I»^takinnSdyi,"^"^^f  ^'^  (New  York.  1904).  whieh  i.  a 
the.volume.  reUting  to  the  Pltt.K..«n  r**  """^  uwful  table,  in 

available  for  the  '^^yT^I^^^ZT^ll^'^'^''  -terialnow 
to  enume^te  all  of  it  would  con.^SYf'^^^Sf ^»  "^  "*"»»* 


CHAPTER  m 
THB  crrr  and  thb  watb 

it  derive.  ^  it,  p„weX.1.."^t:/  "^.""I'T*^'  ^ 
the  agent,  wMch  the  rt.te  uw  fc-  thT^  °' 

.0  govern  the  41S  ^  thrvtv'""""""  "'"  *'  '^* 
their  iuriadiction  "^  t  TC."^  "I"  ""  ""^ 
American  .aw,  «,  we^XiL  tS^i^J™"'''*  °' 
open  to  question.'  ^^  '  "  "»'  nowaday! 

ti"o;  riltT^^j'ttr"- 1-^'-  in  -.  mat-  .«. 

o/h«ita«on:''a)ThrrriS^  raTrr^*^*  ^==^ 
all  legis  ative  freprfnm  k,    *i.  imposed  upon 

StateTand  W  ZlTp.XtiuS^"l"/  '''  """^ 
in  the  conatitutiona  of  rtT-    •  ^''''  "*  contained 

federal  conrtitntr  1  T  '^'*'  thenuelvM.    71,. 

«  .Ute  Itaelf  cZ,t  r  T,  ""'.'"*  "■""^"•tion.    What 
"""»"'<'.  rtc«nnot  empower  any  aubordinate 


54 


hi  I' 


4 


Ml 


Ui 


Thdr 
nature. 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


authonty  to  do;  hence,  legislative  freedom  in  the  matter 

to  Sr.  *  '""'"'"  '"  '^'^'^'^  coiporations  is  subjected 
to  some  very  important  checks.  Mo«  important  andf^r 
more  numerous  are  the  limitations  imposed  upon  Z 
leg^latures  of  states  by  their  own  constitutions.^  the 
earher  state  constitutions  these  restrictions  were  few  i^ 
some  there  were  none  at  all  with  reference  to  municipd 
govermnent.  By  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  c^t^ 
however,  the  disposition  to  insert  checks  upon  Ct^e 
mterfexjence  with  local  administration  had  becL  ^  mart^' 
that  whenever  state  constitutions  were  revised  some  suS 
ZZr  T  "^"^  ^^'^"^''^y  ^rt«d-    During  the 

minever  ^  Z  T  T'  *°  "*  *^'^"  ^°'  ^''^  A 
oMoZl  u  .  ""^^  *  '''''  constitution  or  revises  ai^ 
dd  one,  It  wm  ahnost  certainly  use  the  opportunity  to  ^ 

TrnJe wTf "  ^^'""^  "^*^«  *°  ^^^^^'^^^  '-<*om 
in  matters  of  local  government. 

Constitutional    limitations    upon    the    freedom    of   the 
legislature  to  deal  with  city  affai«  are  of  great  variJ^y 
Many  of  them  relate  to  the  fonn  of  city  charrs  or  to  th^ 

ftit  .  T'^^  '^'"-  ^"  «°"^«  ''^^  the  legislatL  iJ 
forb^en  to  charter  cities  by  special  act;  in  oXrsTS 
required  to  grant  all  charters  in  this  way.  Some  state 
constitutions  prohibit  changes  in  city  charters  uZ  tht 
are  made  with  the  consent  of  the  citizens;  othen,  guTrantS 
te  the  voters  of  cities  the  right  to  frame  their  own^^h^e^ 

vents  legislatures  from  giving  cities  undue  borrowing  powen, 
or  from  empowering  municipalities  to  grant  LZZ 
franchises  to  public-service  corporations  o^te  lo^hefr 
credit  to  private  enterprises.  ' 


THE  CITT  AND  TM  WAT! 


56 


P«M   ao  special   acta    »„nf-3^  leg«J»ture   dionld 

these  wholesome  dooWni,  .kTi  ^  .  '""''^  "^th 

«.te  into  twoXTtn  ^-  **'  ■^'  ■="*»  <"  tk. 
provision,  to  ih^TL!^  T'™*  '"""■'"*  "^""t 
•"fore  apedal  legisUtion  .DD«»rf  r?  "!!.*  '°°*'  *""""'  »*•«• 

•ff«tijjg  only  .  ^         '^Z^lZZ"" 
there  were  eleven  xnuiea  Tin  *•.  jT'W'^twn,  unta 

Art.  rf  111,6;  mrt.iL|ae. 
In-       -^.*  '^tended  'or  Cinaimi.tL ' ...  ,««, 

population  of  160.000  iiLbiZL  wWn  *^  of  th.  fim  «!«,  !»,,„,  , 
^  one  hundml  feet  towStTfan!?^  *  *"•*"»  •^^«»w»  of  not  !«■■ 
Avenue,  i.  hereby  ^t^V^^}^*°  ^  >™^  «  OfflS 


IMIII 


M 


OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMTOICAN  CITI18 


' 


■viiola 


gory,  the  l^lature  was  able  to  handle  them  quite  as  if 
there  were  no  constitutional  restrictions  at  alL  For  fifty 
years,  from  1851  to  1902,  the  courts  of  Ohio  upheld  this 
procedure,  declining,  so  long  as  legislation  was  general  in 
form,  to  hold  it  unconstitutional  even  though  it  was  special 
in  fact.  In  1902,  however,  the  supreme  court  of  Ohio 
reversed  its  course,*  took  a  clear  ground  against  special 
legisUtion,  and  thereby  forced  the  legislature  to  enact  a 
new  municipal  code,  with  provisions  that  apply  uniform^ 
to  all  Ohio  cities  having  populations  exceeding  5000.' 

But  if  the  Ohio  situation  prior  to  1902  affords  an  excel- 
lent illustration  of  the  way  in  which  constitutional  restric- 
tions relating  to  uniformity  in  mimicipal  l^;i8lation  may  be 
evaded,  the  situation  since  that  date  shows  with  equal 
deamess  the  absurdity  oi  such  restrictions  when  strict^ 
enforced.  The  new  Ohio  code  applies  its  provisions  uni- 
formly to  seventy-two  cities  with  populations  ranging  from 
about  5000  to  over  a  half-million.  This  means  that  all  the 
cities,  whatever  their  varying  problems  and  needs,  must 
conform  themsdves  to  a  rigid  framework  of  government 
which  makes  no  allowance  for  differences  in  local  condi- 
ticms.  Constitutional  limitations  that  require  such  in- 
dastidty  cannot  but  overreach  themselvM.    Must  a  small 

CiaMlI 

Qnd*  1.  tnm  BOJBOO  to  31,500  (CtAimbas). 
GnriB  2,  from  »,000  to  30;i00  (Dayton). 
Qnd*  3.  from  10,000  to  30.000  (Youagrtoim). 
OfMl«aR,erom  38,000  to  33,000  (^wincflflld). 
Omd0»>,f)KNB  16,000  to  38,000  (Hamilttm). 
Gndo  4,  (tarn  8000  to  KMUO  (four  dtiw}. 
Gnide4a,  tnm  8330  to  0060  (Aditabol*). 

>  Stikte  9.  Juam,  66  Mt»,  40. 

*  An  (ToeOHit  rammaqr  of  tUi  oode,  widi  •  nunthraor  the  events 
^Mdinc  to  iti  adoption,  b  givm  in  J.  A.  IWrik'i  E-av  in  Mmieipal 
.MmiiiiKraMM  (New  Toric,  1008),  di.  v.  The  code  itaelf  is  edited,  with 
ffMd  introdn^ioD  md  noten,  by  Wede  H.  BOis  (CJTwfamiti,  1909). 


THI  om-  4>,D  TBI  fTATI  » 

1.*  f"'  «rr^  "Wtn-poli^  „  th.  only  m«„„^ 
«lirf  from  legaua™  m«WIiag  wHh  th.  rt.i  ofri^ 

IT.     *  .•    ™  ^"'""»»"' <™™lt  ••  dtie.  grow  ia  ri« 

^w  erf  pubuo  utmti-,  th.  „ppw.^J  ^  XXpt 

^c«,  ^  Mntnbut,  f  nuk.  the  M««,y  «taS.^ 
;;«^^;^o«^t  tob.  .^^  to  tb.  p„bl.^wia. 

iD^M  Ti!."'.'^.'*"  •n>««»«o«  »f  th.  Ohio  «xi.  <rf 

1902  to  dl  c.t«.  m  th.  rt.t.,  »m,  „,  u„  ta^  muBidpufr 

"th  locd  prebfeott.    TlM  dtjr  of  Cteretand,  for  eampi, 
ha.  f««d  rtjd,  »uibb  to  p««nt  th.  dMgi^J^'S 

t»«.  m  tt.  «bool.,  to  „MiUk  ram  M.^  to  th.  iX 

ott«  thmg,  wb«,h  it.  coondl  b«  «,„ght  to  wcoapuT^ 
ordmn«.  «n«  1902,  -  ™i  a  bwau.,  „  „„er»l^lZ 

ofthe.tot.bytb.m«nidpdcod..  Apart  ritogethw?™^ 
the  ment.  or  th.  drf«*.  „f  Um.  propoMd  rZL^  « 
may  ™y  w^  b.  org..,  th.t .  ^  ^;^^.  « 
from  proTOtaig  f„,  u,  ,^  ^^^  J^       '^ 

«™«  «or  by  «^.„ti«„  of  dri.  pro.^.    sLrthiii 


58 


QOyiBNMINT  or  AMBBICAN  CITIIS 


CoDltitlf 

tional 
daaiifieft- 
tioDof 
dties. 


The  New 
York  plan. 


may  be  udd  in  favor  of  sUtutes  that  apply  unif onnly  to  a}l 
cities  of  about  the  same  nie,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  two 
cities  with  equal  populations  will  have  the  same  problems 
to  face.  The  texture  aswell  as  the  siae  of  the  population  must 
be  taken  into  account.    Such  sweeping  reductions  of  all 
cities  to  the  same  plane  as  that  made  by  the  Ohio  code  is 
therefore  quite  at  variance  with  both  reason  and  experience.* 
Recognising  the  undesirabiUty  of  too  strict  a  rule,  and  at 
the  same  time  realising  how  a  legislature  wiU  abuse  its 
powers  if  left  free  to  classify  cities  as  it  thinks  fit,  some  other 
states  have  endeavored  to  steer  a  midway  course  by  incor- 
porating  in  the  constitution  itself  the  ckroification  of 
municipalities  that  seems  to  be  warranted  by  the  existing 
circumstances.    Such  constitutions  divide  cities  into  three 
or  four  groups,  usuaUy  on  a  basis  of  the  population,  and 
require  that  statutes  passed  by  the  legislature  covering 
matters  of  municipal  government  shall  apply  to  all  the  cities 
within  at  least  one  of  these  groups.    This  is  in  many  ways 
an  improvement  upon  the  crude  plan  of  prohibiting  all 
special  legislation,  and  at  the  same  time  it  has  many  advan- 
tages over  the  practice  of  permitting  the  legislature  to 
exercise  an  unfettered  hand  in  the  way  of  special  law-making. 
The  chief  objection  is  that  wich  classifications  are  artificial, 
taking  little  account  of  real  differences  between  cities  of 
approximatdy  the  same  sise,  and  as  a  rule  making  no 
provision  for  the  passage  of  a  city  from  one  class  to  another. 
A  somewhat  unusual  and  original  method  of  dealing 
with  the  matter  was  some  years  ago  put  into  operation  in 
New  York  State.    Although  the  poUcy  of  classifying  cities 

>The  OhiJ  ComtitationalConvwition  of  1912  inoorponted  in  iti  drrft 
of  a  new  oon  r  >tation  for  that  stete  »  Beries  of  municipal  homo-rule  pro- 
visions  giving  munioipriitiet  poww  dther  to  frame  their  own  ohMtm  « 
to  adopt  by  local  r^ermdum  any  gen«al «  ■pocial  charter  Uw  which  the 
■Ute  legislature  may  paM.  The  new  constitution  has  been  adopted  by  the 
votaa  of  the  state  and  will  go  into  effect  on  January  1, 1913. 


THl  dTT  AKD  THl  STATI 


fiO 


aeeording  to  their  me,  and  of  requiring  uniformity  of 
legislative  aetion  with  reepeet  to  all  munidpalitiee  within 
each  elaaa,  ia  there  ngud^d  aa  a  good  plan  for  ordinary 
use,  yet  it  ii  recognised  that  there  may  be  good  reasons 
for  permitting  departures  from  it,  and  that  such  depar* 
tures,  in  the  form  of  special  legislation  for  individual 
cities,  ought  to  be  allowed  under  proper  safeguards.  The 
best  safeguard,  as  it  appeared  to  those  who  framed  the  New 
York  constitution,  is  the  necessity  of  consulting  the  au- 
thorities of  the  city  affected  by  the  special  statute.  Hence 
the  constitution  groups  the  cities  of  the  state  into  three 
classes,  and  permits  the  legislature  to  pass  any  law  apply- 
ing to  all  the  cities  in  any  one  of  the  three  classes  without 
consulting  the  authorities  of  such  cities.*  Legislation 
appl}ring  to  a  single  city  may  also  be  enacted,  but  in  such 
cases  the  city  concerned  must  be  consulted.  Wtok  any 
measure  applying  to  a  single  city  (or  to  less  than  the  whole 
number  of  cities  in  a  class)  has  passed  both  branches  of  the 
le;islature,  it  must  be  seat  to  the  mayor  of  that  city,  who 
must  return  it  within  fifteen  days  with  a  declaration  that 
it  is  or  is  not  acceptable  to  the  city  authorities.  If  it  is 
acceptable,  it  goes  forward  to  the  governor  for  his  considerap 
tion,  as  in  the  case  of  otil^r  bills ;  if  it  is  not  acceptable,  it 
must  be  passed  again  by  the  legislature  before  it  can  be  sent 
to  him  for  approval.  In  actual  practice,  however,  the  New 
York  plan  has  not  proved  very  effective  in  safeguarding 
the  cities  from  special  legislation.  A  somewhat  different 
plan  was  provided  in  an  amoidmoit  made  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  Illinois  eight  years  ago  (1904).  This  provision  placed 
a  check  upon  the  right  of  the  state  legislature  to  pass  special 
acts  for  the  government  of  Chicago,  by  prescribing  that  no 
such  special  act  diould  go  into  opex .  ^on  until  after  its  adop- 
ti(m  by  the  voters  of  Chicago  at  a  referendum  election. 

>Art.ziL|a. 


m 


OOVKRNMBNT  OF  AMIBICAN  CITII8 


of  state 
oontroL 


Under  this  arrangement  it  haa  been  found  that  niJle 
Chicago  does  not  always  get  what  its  people  want  in  the 
way  of  legislation  they  can  at  any  rate  repel  attempts  to  force 
obnoxious  measures  upon  them.  All  this  was  very  well 
shown  in  1907  when  the  city  failed  in  its  efforts  to  get  a 
new  charter  satisfactory  to  its  own  people  but  at  the  same 
time  kept  the  legislature  from  imposing  upon  the  dty  charter 
provisions  which  the  voters  did  not  want.  It  is  significant 
that  the  new  constitution  of  Michigan  includes  proviaioQs 
for  local  referenda  on  special  legislation  relaiing  to  any  dty 
of  that  state. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  constitutional  limitations,  the 
stote  legislatures  have  a  broad  sphere  of  action  in  relation 
to  municipal  affairs,  and  th^  have  used  their  powers  un- 
sparingly. In  the  larger  dties,  legisUtive  interference  with 
the  organisation  and  functions  of  munidpal  administration 
has  been  so  unremitting  as  frequently  to  constitute  an 
obstacle  to  the  development  of  any  sound  local  traditions. 
In  many  cases,  however,  the  arm  of  the  legislature  has 
been  put  forth  in  local  affairs  to  good  purpose  and  with 
excellent  reason;  for  uncontrolled  local  administration  is 
liable  to  become  slovenly  and  even  corrupt.  When,  for 
example,  the  police  administration  of  a  large  city  has  come 
to  be  hopelessly  honeycombed  with  the  by-products  of 
local  politics,  so  that  the  laws  of  the  state  stand  disre- 
garded, it  is  idle  to  urge  that  legislative  interposition  in 
the  interest  of  law  and  order  must  be  forever  forestalled  by 
some  dogma  of  political  laiaaa-faire.  Legislatures  have 
interfered  in  such  cases,  and  they  ought  to  do  so  whenever 
the  dtuation  warrants.  So,  also,  in  their  efforts  to  deUver 
cities  from  the  bondage  of  spoilsmen  through  the  applica- 
tion of  dva-eervice  laws,  and  in  establishing  safeguards 
against  the  improvidence  of  municipal  authorities,  the 
legislatures  have  acted  quite  defendbly,  even  if  sometimes 


*■■  CITT  AND  THl  «r.iTB  ^j 

VivMi.  ddiver  their  grirtrf^'. ,        ^°"''  "*  '^'^ 
b«nefit  oJ  Borton   nJyLv  oT^  «i«tm«,u  for  th. 

it  wouM  .v.,  b,  forthcX  nil^iTf"' "  ^f 

p«««  t.  «d.,  i.  .th«,irR;ri^*sstrM^ 

containing  the  wSlJ  ^!:  T?  *^**  "*^*  *^**  •  volume 

the  Union.  ^*^*"~  *»' '""^  ««»«  «t*t«  of 

as  the  "homJS^J^f  i^ J*^-  "  *»«*  known 

have  had  it.  ori  J^T.  S^^"'.  ^^  ^^  •PP««»  *<> 
«Kj-u        *"  o"Pn  m  the  Migsonri  constitution  of  iMi 
wlud.  g.v.  „««  o,  over  ,00,000  popuUtionl  1^^!^ 


Molhwar 


TIM 


ea 


OOyiBNMlNT  OP  AMBWCAN  CITII8 


nk«iuwt«n 


f  : 


tnmt  tad  aoMt  their  own  eli«rt«n.'  By  the  proviiioiie  of 
the  oonatitutkm  the  voters  of  the  city  might  elect  •  durter 
board  of  thirteen  manben,  —  in  other  words,  «  nuni«ture 
eonstitntional  convention,  —  which  wm  empovrared  eitlmr  to 
fnxM  a  new  dty  charter  or  to  revise  an  cM  one,  its  wwtk 
when  finished  to  be  submitted  to  the  qualified  voters  at  a 
regular  deetion.  During  the  first  quartef^entury  follow- 
ing its  adoption  this  system  gained  little  headway  outside 
the  sUte  in  which  it  originated;  in  1900  it  had  spread  to 
three  other  states  only.*  Within  the  next  ten  yean,  how^ 
ever,  five  more  states  incorporated  in  their  constitutions 
the  prindple  of  the  Missouri  plan,  and  most  of  them  made 
it  applicable  to  smaller  as  well  as  to  larger  cities.' 

Among  these  nine  "hom»>rule  charter"  stipes  there  are 
eonnderable  differences  in  the  procer<i  and  the  machinery 
of  charter-making.    In  some  of  th(^  the  initial  step  in 
the  adoption  or  the  revinon  of  a  municipal  frame  of  govmh* 
ment  may  be  t  km  on  petition  of  a  prescribed  number  of 
Totors;*   in  others  the  dty  council  must  make  the  first 
move ;  and  in  one  state,  Minnesota,  the  initiative  must  be 
taken  by  the  district  court.'    In  jU  cases  (except  in  Minnc 
sota)  the  actual  work  of  drafting  a  home-rule  charter  ; 
intrusted  to  a  commisdon  conmtonly  called  a  board  of  free 
holders,  made  up  of  from  thirteen  to  twentynme  members 
ehoeen  by  popular  vote,  usually  at  large,  but  in  some  cases 


« Art.  ix.ll  19-17. 

iConititotkm  oT  CiOifonik,  1879,  art.  iL  if  ft-8;  wmititatkm  ot 
WMiiinckm,  1880.  urt.  xi.  |  10;  ooiutitation  of  MinaMota,  art.  tv.  |  as 
(Mbqrted  ia  1808).  For  the  geaonl  hiatoiy  of  the  mo  uMnt  during  this 
pviod,  M*  M.  R  MaltMe's  imvct  on  "City-mado  OMrten,"  in  Yd* 
BwUw,  Xni.  380-107  (Felmiuy,  1906). 

*  Cdoimdo  in  ig02,  Oregon  in  1906,  Oldahonw  in  1907,  Michigan  in 
1906,  Mid  Aiiiona  in  1910. 

*  The  peroentage  variee  from  6  par  eoit  in  Ckdnrado  to  25  per  omt  in 
Waihington. 

*  C(Mutitati(m  of  MinnoKita,  art.  iv.  1 30. 


nn  OITT  AKD  TBI  fTATI  H 

by  wud»;  and  ia  all  turn  tlie  doeument,  when  flaiahed,  is 
■ttbmittcd    y  rafonndum  to  tfae  qualified  voten  of  the  eity. 
If  more  vos*e  an  eiwt  for  H  than  againet  it,  the  eharter 
ueually  go«  isto  effect;  but  in  aome  etates  mora  than  thia 
ie  required     In  MinneeoU  the  eharter  eommiMion  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  district  eouri  and  an  affinnative  popular  vot« 
of  at  least  four^venths  is  demanded;  in  MU^an  the 
freeholders'  charter  goes  first  to  the  governor  and  if  he  dis- 
approves it  a  two-thirds  vote  at  the  local  referendum  is 
necessary  to  put  it  into  foree;  in  Calif omia  the  charter  does 
not  become  ^eetive  untO  .the  legislature  has  also  approved 
it;»  and  in  Oklahoma  it  has  to  be  submitted  to  the  governor 
of  the  state,  who  is,  however,  required  by  the  constitution 
to  sign  it  unless  it  appean  to  be  in  conflict  with  the  general 
statutes  of  the  state.    Amendments  to  a  home-rule  charter 
may  usuaUy  be  initiated  and  ratil2ed  in  the  same  way.' 

The  chief  objection  urged  against  the  qrstem  of  home- 
rule  charten  is  that  it  gives  the  votere  of  individual  muniei- 
paUties  unwarranted  freedom  in  determining  thinp  which 
may  be  of  paramount  interest  to  themselves,  but  which 
are  also  of  great  concern  to  the  state  as  a  whole.  In  other 
words,  it  is  urged  that  there  can  be  no  dear  line  of  demaiw 
cation  between  functions  and  respons^ilities  which  are 
strictly  municipal  and  those  whieh  appertain  to  the  state. 
Smce,  f^r  e3tuu»le,  stote  and  municipal  elections  are  often 
held  on  Ihe  same  day,  with  the  same  ballots,  the  wm 
officors  in  charge  of  the  poUs,  and  the  same  securities 
for  fairness,  h  may  weU  be  questioned  whether  the  sUte 
may  safely  permit  each  municipality  to  be  a  law  unto  itself 

wBoie ;  it  eao  BMks  no  ■mnndiniinti. 

•  Detalh  or  the  awthodt  in  mgM  in  the  thIm.  .tatM  tmy  \m  found 
in  C^mpantiM  LtfUaiUm  BMtHn,  No.  18  (on  "MiuildiJHome  »3b 

i^«rerenoe  DopMrtmnt.  Mndfaw,  1908.  **wwwiv» 


64 


QOVSRNMBNT  OF  AMBRICAK  CmU 


p. 

ii 


ij 


LimiUtioM 
upon  the 


in  nuttten  relating  to  elections.  So  also  with  reference  to 
police  administration.  The  eity'a  policemen  are  appointed 
by  the  municipal  authorities,  and  are  paid  by  them ;  but 
the  chief  function  of  the  poUce  is,  after  all,  the  enforcement 
of  state  la^ro,  and  in  most  states  the  courts  have  upheld 
the  doctrine  that  they  are  state  officers.  Ouj^t,  then,  the 
principle  of  local  autonomy  to  be  unrestricted  in  matters 
relating  to  the  appointment,  organisation,  discipline,  and 
functions  of  municipal  police  ?  So,  again,  if  one  considers 
such  matters  as  the  organisation  of  municipal  courts  and 
the  administration  of  local  justice,  the  system  of  compul- 
sory eljmentary  education,  the  assessment  of  taxes,  and  the 
exercise  of  borrowing  powers,  one  finds  that  the  line  of 
cleavage  between  matters  of  municipal  and  state  jurisdic- 
tion is  not  so  easily  drawn  as  some  advocates  of  the  home- 
rule  charter  system  seem  to  imagine.  A  recognition  of  this 
fact  has  forced  the  courts  in  home-rule  charter  states  to 
decide  that  municipal  charter  provisions  cannot  supersede 
the  geceral  state  laws  relating  to  police  administration, 
dection  machinery,  the  administration  of  justice,  the  school 
system  or  in  any  matter  which  is  of  more  than  purely  local 
concern ;  and  the  upshot  of  this  ruling  is  to  throw  upon  the 
courts  rather  than  upon  the  legislature  the  determination  of 
the  question  as  to  how  far  municipal  autonomy  may  be  in- 
fringed in  the  general  interest.* 

At  best,  there  must  be  some  important  limitations  upon 
the  freedom  of  cities  to  deal  in  their  own  way  with  what 
seem  to  be  their  owii  local  affairs.  Just  what  these  limita- 
tions ought  to  be  and  how  far  they  should  extend  is  some- 
thing upon  which  few  men  will  agree;  but  in  general  the 
following  propositions  will  not  be  subject  to  very  serious 
dispute.    In  the  first  place,  the  exercise  by  cities  of  the 

>  Bee  tlM  Ibt  o(  «mm  eitod  in  Ei««m  MoQidBiB'i  Lm  oj  Mmtieipal 
Corfentioiu  (6  voto.,  ChiaHO.  WI1-W12),  I.  aOB. 


THI  CITT  AND  THl  STATI 


« 


power  of  taxation  ought  to  be  ekwely  guarded  in  the  general  («)  um- 
laws.  Taxation  is  eeaentiaUy  a  aoveragn  function;  it  ***' 
gives  to  authorities  a  weapon  which  may  very  readily  be 
misused;  hence  uncontrolled  liberty  to  impose  taxes  might 
enable  the  cities  to  put  grave  difficulties  in  the  way  of  general 
state  administration.  The  power  to  tax  is  the  power  to 
destroy;  it  is  therefore  not  a  function  which  the  sUte 
should  delegate  without  reservation  to  any  subordinate 
authority. 

So,  too,  with  regard  to  the  police  power,  which  in  its  (»)i 
broader  sense  is  always  committed  by  the  constitution  to  the 
state  legislatt:re.    Since  the  preservation  of  the  pubUc  health, 
safety,  and  morals  oug^t  to  be  the  first  caro  of  the  state, 
the  poUce  power  should  never  be  surrendered  to  any  sub- 
sidiary corporate  authority.    Again,  when  the  same  voting-  (.) . 
lists  are  used  in  state  and  local  elections,  or  T7hen  pollings  ~" 
are  held  on  the  same  day  and  in  the  same  places,  it  seems 
best  that  the  hand  of  the  state  should  be  unrestrained  by 
local  regulations.  Many  considerations  make  it  desirable,  too, 
that  the  qualifications  for  voting,  the  methods  of  compiling 
the  lists,  the  machinery  of  the  poU,  the  securities  against 
unfair   practices,   aad   the   provisions   affecting   recounts 
should  be  uniform  throughout  the  state.    They  cannot  be 
uniform  if  each  city  is  aUowed  to  make  its  own  rules  in 
such  matters.    Or  take  the  field  of  municipal  expenditures 
and  indebtedness.    Here  again  there  is  much  to  be  said  for 
statutory  reguUtions  which  require  dty  councils  to  make 
their  appropriations  in  a  business-like  manner,  which  pro- 
vide  proper  safeguards  against  payment  of  pubhc  monies 
without  due  warrant,  which  require  municipal  treasurers 
to  make  their  annual  reports  in  a  uniform  way,  and  which  au- 
thorise some  state  official  to  see  that  these  rules  are  honored 
in  the  observance. 
Likewise,  the  right  to  borrow  money  without  interference 


66 


OOVBRNMINT  OF  AMIRICAN  CITIES 


T 


thranr. 


^bononw  is  not  a  power  that  can  safely  be  granted  to  cities.  It  ia 
plausible  to  uige  that  taxpayers  should  be  permitted  to  do 
as  they  will  with  their  own  financial  credit ;  but  the  right  of 
a  city  to  borrow  its  way  into  bankruptcy  does  not  appear 
to  be  self-evident.  Whether  restrictions  upon  municipal 
borrowing  should  take  the  form  of  a  general  statutory  debt 
*  limit,  as  in  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  or  whether  each 

proposal  to  borrow  should  be  dealt  with  on  its  individual 
merits  by  a  state  authority,  is  an  open  question,  with  the 
lessons  of  history  pointing  mainly  toward  the  latter  method ; 

(.)  •duMP  but  that  there  should  be  reasonable  state  restriction  or  super- 
vision of  some  kind  is  scarcely  to  bo  gainsaid.  Finally,  edu- 
cation and  charity  can  hardly  be  accounted  pi:irely  local 
functions.  Uniformity  of  organization  and  met'aod  in  both 
these  fields  of  civic  effort,  though  by  no  means  imperative, 
seems  to  be  desirable ;  otherwise  there  is  liable  to  be  an  over- 
lapping of  undertakings,  attended  by  wastefulness  and  the 
penalizing  of  one  municipality  for  the  sins  of  another. 

When  several  cities  are  contiguous,  or  even  in  the  same 
general  sphere  of  communication,  there  are  additionid 
grounds  for  state  interference  with  local  freedom.  Freedom 
here  means  independence  of  action,  which  is  anothv  way 
of  saying  that  public  services  will  be  so  uncodrdinated  as  to 
be  detrimental  to  the  best  inte^sts  of  the  whole  district. 
Take  the  Boston  metropolitan  district  as  an  exan^le. 
Within  fifteen  miles  of  Beacon  Hill  there  are  no  fewer  than 
thirty-nine  cities  and  towns,  each  with  its  own  municipal 
organization.  To  allow  all  these  municipalities  entire 
freedom  of  action  in  the  matter  of  making  arrangements 
with  public-utility  corporations  would  be  to  inaugurate 
a  r<5gime  of  franchise  chaos.  No  public-service  corporation 
could  give  much  satisfaction  were  it  required  to  deal  with 
thirty-nine  separate  authorities.  A  somewhat  analagous 
situation  exists  in  and  around  Chkago  where  the  Illinois 


AdditioMl 
iwMetkMM 
in  BwCro* 
poUtan 


THE  CITY  AND  TH«  STATS 


m 


Traction  Company  operates  the  street  raflways  and  the 
electric  lighting  plants  throughout  a  wide  area  comprising 
many  ciUes.    In  such  cases,  therefore,  the  state  legislature 
may,  m  the  absence  of  any  general  metropoUtan  authority 
vei>'  properly  reserve  to  itself  the  final  decision  in  matter^ 
affecting  pubUc-service  franchises.    Limitations  on  munio- 
^1  autonomy  may,  indeed,  go  further  in  such  instances. 
When  there  is  a  common  interest,  as  there  may  be  in  a 
s-aeme  of  district  watei-supply,  sewerage,  parks,  or  general 
planning,  there  should  be  common  control ;  and,  if  the  munic- 
ipalities concerned  ais  not  willing  to  be  federated  into  a 
mngle  unit,  state  supervision  of  aU  projects  affecting  several 
cities  seems  to  be  abwt  the  only  practicable  avenue  of 
progress.    The  principle  of  permitting  eitiss  to  do  things  in 
thdr  own  way,  m  tlw  home-rule  charter  phin  proposes,  must 
therefore  be  subject  to  important  limitations. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  sound  and  cogent  ^^ntu, 
reasons  for  the  extensio.  of  the  plan.    One  of  these  lies  in  the  2i:erLu 
uicreasing  difficulty  with  which  legisUtures  find  time  to  *^^ 
•■osider  adequately  requests  that  come  forward  at  each  "'**" 
■essioB  either  f<w  «pr  charters  or  lor  aMett^noits  to  existing 
omm.    In  Mawachusetts,  U  tke  legislative  session  of  1911, 
petitions  for  new  charten  came  from  ten  cities,  sene  ol 
which  sent  not  merely  one  fuyy-framed  proposal  rea<fy  for 
enactment  into  law,  but  two  or  three  of  them.    A  dosen 
other  cities  asked  for  one  or  more  charter  amendments. 
Of  proposals  to  amend  the  charter  of  Boston  the  legislature 
found  Itself  confronted  with  at  least  a  scor^ ; « and  it  is  within 
bounds  to  say  that  at  this  single  session  th««  were  presented 
to  it  at  least  one  hundred  measures,  eaeh  of  wWch  would, 
if  adopted,  have  been,  in  eiect  at  least,  an  amendmsiM  to 

to  th.  feiWstWi  by  the  n»yor  of  Borton  .loM.    Of  thit  im,3«  ki 
than  ft  dosm  wwe  Mueted  into  Imt.  «mww  ma 


tfcm  giren 
todwrtcn 
bjriegW*. 


68  OOTERNMENT  OF  AMBRICAN  CITIB8 

the  charter  of  some  city  of  the  commonwealth.*    To  allege 
i«j2«jjcy  that  these  measures  received,  or  could  receive,  much  more 
than  a  hasty  survey  from  a  body  of  nearly  three  hundred 
legislators  would  be  to  attribute  to  the  law-maken  of  Massa- 
chusetts the  power  to  achieve  a  physical  impossibility. 
Moreover,  according  to  the  report  of  a  commission  appointed 
a  few  years  ago  by  the  governor  of  West  Virginia  to  examine 
this  situation,  the  host  of  charter  matters  which  come  before 
the  legislature  at  every  session  not  only  fail  to  obtain  ade- 
quate study  and  discussion  for  themselves,  but  they  seriously 
impede  the  consideration  and  passage  of  important  legisla- 
tion affecting  the  people  of  the  state  as  a  whole.    Testimony 
to  the  seriousness  of  this  impediment  can  be  adduced  from 
the  legislative  journals  of  ahnost  every  state  where  the 
special-charter  system  prevails;  and  the  situation  does  not 
seem  to  be  much  better  in  states  where  legislation  for  cities 
is  by  general  law,  since  scores  of  general  amendments  come 
forward  at  every  session.     Upon  a  conservative  estimate, 
fully  one-third  of  the  entire  tune  of  the  Ohio  legislature  has 
been  occupied  in  recent  years  with  local  measures  proposed 
in  general  form.    As  cities  continue  to  increase  in  number, 
extent,  and  importance,  this  burden  upon  the  time  and 
patience  of  lepslatures  will  increase  rathor  than  relax. 
If  it  is  not  yet  intolerable,  it  is  likely  to  become  so. 

Not  only  does  the  system  of  home-rule  charters  promise 
that  most  of  the  l^pslation  affecting  cities  shall  have  due 
discussion  and  consideration  without  impeding  the  progress 
of  more  general  measures,  but  it  gives  some  assurance  that 
this  l^;islation  will  be  dealt  with  upon  their  merits  by  men 
who  are  in  position  to  know  most  about  these  merits  and 

>  Tbe  ktbUtive  Committee  <m  Citiee  eooiidend  86  Ulb;  mm!  75 
cthOT  went  to  the  Committee  on  MetrapoUtan  AflUn.  not  to  mentioo 
doieM  of  meMures  reiatiag  dfreetly  to  eity  Miminirtntfam  which  went 
to  ■tandinc  oommitteee  on  Street  lUflwBjre,  Water^nppfy,  Tnation,  Pulifie 
Li^Unc,  Liquor  Uws,  Publio  Rmlth,  Election  Laiwu,  muI  Edoofttion. 


IwMfeBt 


i«gy*tiv« 

diMler. 


TBI  OITT  AND  TBI  8TATI 


00 


who  are  mott  immediately  concerned  with  them.    Under 
the  conditions  that  now  prevaU  in  most  aUtei  this  is  not 
the  case.    Measures  affecting  the  framework  or  the  functions 
of  city  administration  are  too  often  rejected  or  approved 
on  grounds  entirely  foreign  to  their  merits;  the  controlling 
factor  is  more  likely  to  be  the  attitude  of  this  or  that  poUtical 
faction  or  the  interest  of  this  or  that  public-service  corpora- 
tion.   Furthermore,  senators  and  representotives  from  rural 
districts    influence  and  often  control  the  action  of  the 
legislature  in  matters  of  metropolitan  policy,  when  they 
have  ndther  the  requisite  local  knowledge  nor  the  interest 
to  make  their  influence  salutary.    Thus  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  New  York  City  must  make  its  suppUcation  for  charter 
amendments  to  honorable  gentlemen  from  Chenango  and 
Chemung,  while  the  metropolitan   problems   of   Boston 
must  look  for  their  solution  to  statesmen  from  Chicopee 
and  Cape  Cod.    Accordingly,  legislation  affecting  large 
cities,  being  handled  by  men  who  aw?  qualified  neither  by 
temperament  nor  by  training  to  deal  with  it  upon  its  merits, 
must  usuaUy  depend  for  its  acceptance  or  its  rejection  upon 
those  poUtical  or  corporate  influences  which  can  determine 
the  attitude  of  tiie  "up-sUte  representative,"— in  other 
words,  upon  the  reUtive  skiU  in  tiie  arts  of  legisUtive  ma^ 
nipulation  mustered  by  its  friends  and  its  opponents.    The 
cane  for  mtmidpal  home-rule  tiierefore  finds  its  strongest 
argument  in    the  conditions  which  exist   wherever  this 
principle  of  local  government  is  disregarded.    The  statute- 
books  abound  with  instances  of  enactments  imposed  upon 
cities  despite  their  reasonable  protests  and   oontnuy  to 
their  best  interests,  legislation  which,  if  it  had  been  submitted 
to  the  citisens,  would  never  have  received  the  indorsement 
of  a  tithe  of  the  voters.    The  sUte  gives,  ond  the  state 
takes  away ;  but  seldom  do  the  dtiaens  legaid  its  handitrork 
as  a  blessing. 


:li 


70 


oovBBiniiMT  m  AMuacAN  cmm 


i  « 


EdoMtiv* 
influenee 
of  the 
home-nila 


To  the  speoul-ohartar  tywtmi,  with  its  heavy  burden 
upon  the  time  and  the  temper  of  hfislatuiw  and  ite  jmmium 
on  lobbying  and  log-rolling,  then  are  but  two  alteraativee. 
One  of  these  ia  the  enactment  of  a  geaoral  eharttf  Imr  for 
all  the  cities  of  the  state,  or  of  a  aeries  of  general  <&arter 
laws  eaeh  applying  to  cities  of  »  certain  elaas.  This  system, 
howeirer,  thou^  it  mmy  Mitigate  aoMe  of  the  evib  coeneeted 
with  special  l^pidation,  dmm  iu>t,  as  we  have  seen,  eliminate 
them  altogether.  The  romhs  is  Ohw  and  in  other  sUtes 
which  have  had  experience  with  tiM  genera^harter  system 
aie  n^  such  as  to  warrant  any  enthooastie  advomcy  ^ 
the  pkr  The  etiier  alternative  is  the  adoption  of  the 
principle  (rf  local  autonomy,  mbio^  to  sush  nservati<m8 
as  the  state  may  pcoperty  make  in  tiie  iateraet  of  its  own 
administrative  effideney.  In  opantisii  this  principle  has 
demonstrated  its  popularity;  it  has  proved  a  tolerdbly 
effective  safeguard  wgainst  pernicious  legisfaitive  interference 
in  matters  of  purely  local  import,  aad  it  has  not  been  abused 
by  those  cities  whieh  have  obeyed  great  freedom  of  action 
under  it. 

Something  may  also  be  said  for  the  home-rule  charter 
system  as  an  agency  of  political  education.  In  a  dty  that 
has  been  permitted  to  frame  its  own  charter,  the  electorate  is 
likely  to  take  a  keener  interest  in  all  matten  affecting  the 
organic  laws  of  the  municipality  than  in  one  in  whieh  the 
people  are  merely  allowed  to  pass  upon  what  the  legislature 
presents  to  them.  One  way  to  excite  popular  interest  in 
any  subject  is  to  create  popular  responsibility.  In  states 
like  Califomift  and  Missouri,  the  campaign  that  piecedea 
the  election  of  a  freeholders'  convention  to  draft  a  charter, 
the  public  hearings,  the  convention  discussions,  and  the 
large  attration  which  the  press  is  sure  to  give  to  mooted 
questions,  all  combine  to  arouse  interest  in  the  fundam^tal 
questbns  of  local-government  organisation. 


THl  dTT  AMD  TBI  STATI 


71 


It  hM  «Im  been  argued,  and  with  aome  oobr  of  plaiui.  it,!, 
bmty,  that  the  home-rule  charter  system  does  ita  ahan  in  if 
helping  to  divorce  lUte  and  munidpal  poUtiea.    There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  poUcy  of  permitting  the  atate 
legiaUture  to  make,  unmake,  and  amend  dty  eharten  at  ita 
own  pleasure  and  caprice  has  contributed  to  the  confusion 
of  sUte  and  local  issues.    So  long  as  the  charter  of  a  city 
remains  whoUy  within  the  range  of  legislative  jurisdiction, 
tt  is  obviously  not  easy  to  keep  stirte  and  municipal  issues 
apart,  or  to  regard  the  city  as  having  a  right  to  a  sphere 
of  mdependence  in  polities.    Onl^  by  giving  the  dty  sudi 
mdependence,  it  is  asserted,  can  state  poitidaas  be  compdled 
to  keep  thdr  activities  outnde  the  dty's  gates.    Although 
the    home-rule   charter  system  does  not  give  complete 
autonomy  to  the  munidpaHty,  it  at  least  elevates  it  into 
a  pontion  in  which  its  charter  provisions  can  no  longer 
be  made  the  plaything  of  stote  political  rivalries.    Tak- 
ing all  these  things  into  account,  theiefore,  the  home-rule 
charter  system  has  much  to  commend  it,  despite  its  serious 
Umitations  and  its  inddental  defects.    Its  extennon  to 
other  states  may  be  looked  for  within  the  next  few  yeaw. 

Save  in  so  far  as  it  has  been  put  in  leash  by  the  provisions  tiw 
of  the  federal  or  the  state  constitution,  the  power  of  the  5"***" 
legislature  over  the  city  is  supreme.  The  American  city  has 
no  inherent  authority ;  its  charter  is  a  grant  of  enumwated 
powers;  it  is  the  creature  of  thesUte.  Naturally,  then, 
since  constitutional  limitations  have  in  most  states  been 
relatively  few,  interference  has  been  unremitting.  Tnia 
interpodtion  in  munidpal  administration  has  taken  the 
form  either  of  legislative  or  of  administrative  control,  usually 
the  former.  State  laws  stipuUte  in  no  tmcertain  terms 
what  dties  must  or  must  not  do.  They  frequently  set 
limits  to  the  taxing  powen  of  dty  authontMs;  and  they 
fix  bounds  beyond  which  dties  may  not  inew  ;^ebtednes8. 


GOTIBNIONT  OT  AlOUOAN  dmi 


i<  . 


iil 


BW  1 


Baminc  thew  boui^AriM,  m  «  rule,  in  tmnt  of  »  peiventage 
of  the  dt/i  MMned  valuAtioii.    State  Uws  determine  the 
•oope  oi  the  eity'i  lioeming  power,  fix  the  lioense  feee,  uul 
regttlAte  the  houn  during  which  liquor  may  be  eold.    They 
determine  the  period  for  whieh  the  dty  may  grant  franehiaea 
in  ita  own  atreeta,  they  make  mandatory  the  proviaion  of 
▼arioua  municipal  aorvieea,  and  they  determine  the  dutiea 
and    reiponsibilitiea    of    many    municipal    offioen.    "To 
indicate  all  the  forma  whieh  legialative  control  haa  taken 
in  the  United  Statea  would  be  to  mumerate  practically 
evwy  detail  of  dty  government  from  the  general  atructure 
<rf  the  dty  organisation  to  the  Mlariea  of  firemen  or  the  right 
of  the  dty  to  alter  the  grade  or  the  width  of  a  itieet."  *    The 
Amoiean  city  haa,  in  fact,  ceaaed  to  be  what  it  onoe  waa, 
an  organisation  for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needa,  and  haa 
become  a  cog  in  the  machinery  whereby  the  state  carriea 
out  its  functions  of  government.    This  subordination  of 
the  dty's  autonomy  to  what  is  concdved  to  be  the  interaat 
of  the  whole  state  has  furnished  an  ahnost  limitlesa  oppor- 
tunity for  legislative  control.  State  legislaturea  have  acquired 
the  habit,  which  has  in  some  cases  devdoped  into  a  vice, 
of  enacting  into  Uwa  all  manner  of  limitations  upon  munio> 
q»al  independence,  and  thia  wholly  upon  their  own  inspira- 
tion and  initiative,  not  only  without  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  municipalities  concerned,  but  often  in  direct  contraven- 
tion of  their  interests  and  wishes, 
legislative  control  of  city  affairs  is  above  all  thingi  ama- 
hSlutiv*     teuridt,  the  work  of  men  who  have  no  special  skill  or  apti- 
dS^ow   *"*»  «  ^^^  ^^  undertake  to  do,  and  who  often  have 
scant  knowledge  of  the  conditions  under  which  their  enact- 
ments are  to  be  applied.    Most  of  it  has,  in  consequence, 
been  worthless  or  worse.    Its  ineffectiveness  is  a  common- 
place  among  munidpal    officers,   and  nowhere    more  so 
•  A.  R.  Hfttton,  Difet  tif  CUf/  Charttn  (CUm«o.  1906),  S2. 


rai  OITT  AND  TBI  ITATI  ^ 

.  dty  in  the  commonwwUth  haa  oonfonn^i  to^  dS« 
mta^ormspirit.    Mon^  i.  bomnr^l  in  «»S,X 

v^^r^  '  "*  •"  '««w«I,fwquenUy  foryw  after 
y««-,  ^tha  «unee  of  new  note,  extending  or  SL 

«««d  I200M0  of  «,di  note,  in  one  city,  and  1160.000  to 
S^;  "^^"^^  of  the  Hrit  od  ev:^  tlie 
letter  of  the  law,"  he  reported,  "a»  oo;  :;v,n  in  the  dtie. 
•ndtown.ofthi.Conunonwealth.»«    llie  tax  mtoiitS 

^J^mJT"'***'^'  «d*heH»itation.«,^ 
bonded  mdebtedne.  a»  evaded  either  by  the  maintenai^ 
of  floaung  obligation,  renewed  year  afti  year,  or^^ 
njlrlr^  ~PP<-«i  to  be  held  il^ZX 

i^^v^T^"^*^  "^  -imdng^fund  diZcy  wa. 
recently  found  to  exceed  1800,000. 

K  le^tive  control  cannot  be  made  effective  when  it  

»  the  field  o  municipal  finance,  how  much  le«  potLt  kS  &?- 

^^uencehkdy  to  l«  when  it  «ek.  to  regulate  Te  mLu^ 
o  departmental  adminirtration,  to  deal  with  the  detab! 
of  municipal  pohce,  «uuUtion,  or  poor  rdief.  F^Z 
lands,  «,ch  a.  EngUmd,  Ranee,  and  Oennany,  S 
10IH5  «nce  i««gni«d  the  futihty  of  exp^ting  JL^^ 


<>v  •  • 


(wutn 


74 


OOVKRNMINT  Of  AMERICAN  OITm 


Dvrelop- 

tdminiMm- 
tiweoatrol 
IbUm 
United 


rr^ulti  throu(^  this  channel  of  locftl  mipenrision,  pat  their 
truft  in  a  lyBtem  of  odminlatrative  control.  In  RngUnij 
the  Local  Government  Board  and  the  Board  of  Trade  are 
examples  of  administrative  orgaiM  through  which  the 
central  government  hdds  the  local  authorities  in  cheek. 
In  France  the  prefect  is  the  ever>watchful  administrative 
agent  of  the  national  government.  In  America,  on  the 
contrary,  this  method  of  guarding  the  interest  of  the  state 
in  city  affairs  has  been  used  to  a  relatively  slif^t  extent; 
it  is  only  within  comparativdy  rec«it  years,  indeed,  that  it 
has  been  used  at  all.  Its  development,  so  far  as  it  has  pro- 
ceeded, has  been  inspired  by  a  growing  belief  in  the  wealmess 
and  uncertainty  of  control  by  statute,  particularly  in  such 
matters  as  excise  administration  and  the  conduct  of  elections. 
Several  states  have  taken  over  into  the  hands  of  their  own 
administrative  officials  the  enforcement  of  the  state  liquor 
laws,  their  action  being  prompted  by  a  feeling  that  the  city 
authorities  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  perform  this  func- 
tion satisfactorily.  In  some  statt:s  election  commissioners 
are  appointed  to  see  that  the  general  bws  governing  election 
procedure  are  carried  out.  In  New  York  and  Illinois  a  state 
civil-service  commission  supervises  the  work  of  the  civil- 
service  boards  maintained  by  the  cities,  and  holds  them  to 
a  strict  conformance  with  the  law.  In  Massachusetts  a 
state  civil-service  board  administers  the  law  directly,  without 
the  use  of  local  commissions  as  intermediaries.  In  New 
York,  Wisconsin,  and  other  states,  public-utilities  commis- 
iions  adjust  the  relations  between  the  cities  and  the  public- 
service  corporations.  By  state  boards  of  health  and  boards 
of  education  many  states  have  increased  the  strictnras  of 
their  administrative  control  over  the  corresponding  municipal 
activities.  In  at  least  a  few  states  the  statistical  and  account- 
ing departments  of  state  government  have  enforced  progress 
in  tUe  direction  of  uniform  municipal  book-keeping;  and 


TBI  CITY  AND  TBI  ITATI 


II 


of  the  kwi  rekting  to  municipd  •ii««meiit,  twaUoiL  «». 
pendituw,  and  bomming.*  ««moii,  »• 

*ii"  ^;??*^.***  wrtending  •dminktmtive  eostiol  to  M 
^  d^  without  dirtiaction,  nome  rt.t«  have  devdopS 
th.  p«ctice  of  .pplyi.^  thi.  fom  of  «ipervWon  to  pj^ 
hu.  dep*rtmj«t.  of  individud  dtia.,  or  gmup.  of  dti^^ 
•J  the  poUce  depwtment   or  the  wnitwy  department. 

JJm"^**/  ^"^  "^  ^'^^  ^ve  put  «2 
^.d^^^„U^eontrolofthe.t«tethe^^^ 

that  tte  whole  rtate  i.  too  much  intererted  in  the  poU« 
iidmini.tr.tion  of  the  metropoli.  to  permit  it  to  be  left  in  local 

^«.  Tl!^^^"  ^•'' '"'«««»»«'  8iven  to  rtate  com- 
m»«on.  the  admm»tration  of  the  main  eewerage,  water,  and 
p«rk  v-tema  of  a  mt,opoUt«»  diatrict  whid»  include.  B^ton 

theoor  th^  m  the  .b«nce  of  any  general  dirtrict  authority 

worked  out  ^the  fiee  action  of  many  independent  munic 

in  .cope  the  boundarie.  of  Mveral  municipaUtie.,  the  natural 
tendency  »  to  caU  for  rtate  interporition.  When  th^ 
vanou.  example  are  con«de«d  in  their  totaHty,  it  i.  .een 
that  the  amount  of  adminirtrative  control  already  developed 

Z^^T  T'Z  "i^^^'P^'^^-P-'thani.  u«,ally.uppo^ 
On  ^e  other  hand,  that  it  i.  a.  yet  crude  and  meag«^^ 

W.  A.  Rawli  cIS:JJL1^"^  '^  AdminUtnaUm  in  Ohio;  and 
^^  «^«»<wli«n(r  TmtdtneU,  in  tk,  Admini,lraHmt  tf  Indiana, 


MKMCOrv  MSOUniON  TIST  CHAUT 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


tit  |£ 

tarn 
■  22 

!■«  1 

|Z0 

auuu 

1 

11.8 

125  mu 


1.6 


^ 


16S]  East  Main  StrMi 

(7tS)  ♦82  -  0300  -  Phoiw 
(716)  2M  -  S989  -  Fo« 


imtwi 


76 


OOVERNMBNT  07  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Thefntin* 
nbtion 
of  dtjr 


Onftiiic 
ehaittr. 


compared  with  the  well-ordered  administrative  arrangements 
by  which  the  various  European  countries  provide  central 
supervision  of  local  government,  is  just  as  evident.*    That  it 
should  be  much  less  comprehensive  than  the  systems  of 
France  and  Germany  is  no  caiise  for  wonder ;  but  that  the 
United  States  should  have  fallen  so  far  behind  Eng^d  in 
matters  of  local  supervision  through  administrative  agencies 
is  not  so  readily  explained.    It  is  to  be  remembered,  however, 
that  this  development  has  taken  place  in  England  within 
the  last  forty  years.    During  the  next  forty  a  similar  ad- 
vance may  be  made  in  America.    If  it  does,  it  will  be  a 
desirable  advance;  for  administrative  control  is  in  every 
way  preferable  to  that  factious  interference  with  local 
autonomy  which  we  call  legislative  supervision.    It  is  super- 
vision by  experts,  and  hence  is  based  upon  knowledge,  not 
upon  caprice;  it  is  consistent  in  policy;   it  does  not  give 
unnecessary  affront  to  local  self-respect ;  and  it  is  effective 
in  doing  what  it  sets  out  to  do.    The  substitution  of  adminis- 
trative for  legislative  supervision  —  that  is  to  say,  of  super- 
vision by  responsible  boards  of  trained  men  rather  than  by 
the  desultory  action  of  legislatures — would  be  an  influentiid 
factor  in  improving  the  relations  of  the  city  to  the  state, 
and  would  thereby  have  a  beneficial  reaction  upon  the  affairs 
of  the  city  itself.    A  sharp  distinction  ought  to  be  made, 
however,   between   state   administrative   tupervmon   and 
direct  state  control  of  mimicipal  activities.     The   latter, 
eq)ecially  when  the  city  is  forced  to  pay  the  bills,  is  never 
popular  and  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  affording  a  permanent 
solution  of  local  problems. 

The  city  charter,  whatever  the  procedure  under  which 
it  is  secured,  is  the  constitution  of  the  municipality.  As 
such,  it  ought  to  be  prepared  with  great  care  as  to  arrange- 

*  ThflM  unucementt  an  Mt  forth  in  F.  J.  Gtoodnow's  ComporoMM 
AdmuuKroMM  Lav  (2  wHm.,  New  York,  1903),  I.  ohs.  v-vH. 


THB  CITY  AND  THE  8TAM  77 

ment,  matt«,  and  phraseologjr.    So  f ar  aa  ammgement  is 

muchT^L^'  ^*^J:^  """^  «^"^  ^  ^  general  left 
much  to  be  d«aml.  The«  haa  been  no  accepted  model 
to  follow;  every  charter  commiaaion  or  legislative  com- 
mittee  has  stumbled  along  upon  a  plan  of  its  own,  so  that 
the  method  of  arranging  matter  in  a  city  charter  has  rarely 

rr-^t     K*°f'"''"™""°'^^«*'y-    An  arrang^  o««. 
m^t  mto  chapters  and  sections  such  as  will  put  provisions  STS" 
of  the  same  sort  together  and  keep  provisions  rating  to  ^^^^ 
different  branches  of  the  city  govermnent  separate  fn,m 
one  another  which  wiU  give  chapter  and  section  headings 
^L"'^r^''  derignatoiy  and  yet  mutuaUy  exclusiv^ 
which  wiU  set  provisions  in  their  logical  order, -an    ar^ 
rangement  that  will  secure  these  ends  would  satisfy  any 
reasonable  requirement.* 

The  substance  of  the  provisions  wiU  of  course  depend  N-dd 
upon  the  convictions,  opinions,  and  prejudices  of  those  SS^'"^ 
who  fri^ae  the  charter.    Their  work  of  drafting  ought  to  ^• 
be  preceded  by  a  thorough  and  careful  study,  not  only  of 
provisions  m  the  charters  of  other  cities,  but  of  actual  con- 
ditions  in  the  particuhir  municipality  ^ith  which  they 
^n\T    l:    V''^  »  »o  -^  of  charter  pK,vi8ions  that 
will  fit  readily  the  needs  of  aU  cities,  or  even  of  cities  that 
superficiaUy  appear  to  be  alike  in  their  requirements.    All 
this  ought  to  be  commonpUce,  but  in  practice  it  is  ahnost 
everywhere  disregarded.    Charters  are  drafted  to  ekbo- 


1.  Genenl  lYovUoiia. 

2.  NomiiiatioBa  uul  Elfletknu. 

3.  The  City  Connofl. 
*-  TheMiqror. 

6.  Adminiitmtiye  DepwtiiMiiti. 

6.  IiMXHne  and  AmircvriatioiM. 

7.  Lmiu,  and  Appn^riiktioiu 

tiMnCrom, 


8.  Th*    Fomn  and  Outiw  of 

OfBaan. 
0.  Aeeonnto  and  the  Condnot  of 

Bniinen. 

10.  IMnet  T^JittiffiL 

11.  Franohiaea. 
13.  MiMMlbuucnML 


^mmm 


■■PPmilP 


78 


OOVBRNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


'III- 


rate  this  or  that  set  of  principles,  and  frequently  by  men 
who  have  had  no  experience  in  municipal  aflfaire  whatever. 
More  often  than  not,  the  framers  fail  to  equip  themselves 
for  effective  work  by  any  study  of  the  city's  actual  prob- 
lems.   It   would  be  far  better  for   our   cities   if   every 
charter-drafting  body  would  follow  the  example  of  the 
Boston  Finance  Commission,  and  devote  a  year  to  a  relent- 
less probe  of  every  branch  of  city  government  before  be- 
ginning its  constructive  work.    As  a  rule,  too  much  time 
and  energy  are  spent  in  framing  the  poUtical  provisions  of 
a  charter,  the  sections  relating  to  the  methods  of  nomina- 
tion, the  machinery  of  election,  the  organization  of  the 
council,  and  the  general  powers  of  the  mayor.    Not  enough 
attention  is  bestowed  upon  the  administrative  and  the 
business  provisions,  those  which  deal  with  the  methods  of 
making  appropriations,  with  the  safeguards  against  ex- 
travagance, the  restriction  of  the  city's  borrowing  powers, 
the  system  of  municipal  accounting,  the  organization  of  the 
administrative  departments,  the  methods  of  selecting  sub- 
ordinate officers,  the  distribution  of  official  duties,  and  the 
relations  of  the  municipaUty  to  pubUc-service  corporations. 
These  are  the  most  difficult  provisions  to  frame  properly; 
the  proper  consideration  of  them  requires  a  thorough  grasp 
of  local  conditions,  and  upon  the  amount  of  careful  atten- 
tion which  they  receive  the  successful  working  of  the  charter 
will  very  lai^gely  depend. 
SS-edoor      ^  *°  phraseology,  the  everyday  rules  that  ought  to 
ofdMrten.    find  observance  in  the  framing  of  ordinary  statutes  need 
to  be  scrupulously  observed  in  the  drafting  of  corporate 
charters.    The  meaning  of  a  provision  is  too  often  hidden 
in  a  mass  of  legal  verbiage  which  seems  to  have  for  its  aim 
the  violation  of  every  rule  of  English  composition.    This 
is  because  charter-makers  usuaUy  copy,  so  far  as  possible, 
the  phraseology  of  something  already  upon  the  statute- 


THE  CITT  AND  THE  STATB 


79 


book,  which  hM,  in  turn,  borrowed  the  language  of  some- 
thing that  went  before.  An  avoidance  of  aU  technical 
terms,  the  use  of  short  sentences,  and  the  policy  of  saying 
no  more  than  is  necessary  to  render  a  provision  intelligible 
would  make  city  charters  less  forbidding  in  length  and 
more  intelligible  to  ordinaiy  citizens. 


Ramiiron 

t«  If!!*/*?  of  Mrful  infonnatioii  oonocrnias  the  nbtion  of  the  dty 
?Ji  ^X^  beonbrought  together  in  A.  a  H»tton'.  Digut  of  cZ 
Ckarter,  (Chioego.  1906).  eepeoiiUly  pp.  1-48;  in  J.  P.  DflWs  l!,„  o? 
^^^.  t^fporotfon.  (5  vol..,  Borton,  1911).  1. 140-172 ;  uid  in  Eugene 
McQuilhn'.  Lo«  0/ Munidpol  CorpanMon,  (6  vol...  Chiomo.  Wll-lSw)! 
I.  olu.  v.,  ix.  Interesting  generml  diMmnion.  mi^  be  found  in  H  E 
Deming.  0«;«r»««rf  «/  American  CiHe,  (New  York.  1909).  eq»oi»Uy 
oh^ifi..  fac..  xn. ;  In  F  J.  GoodnoW.  Municipal  Home  RuU  (Ne^S 
1903\^ohfc  iv.-v.,  and  in  hu  Municipal  Gawmmmt  (New  York,  1909)| 

The  relative  merit,  of  the  general  and  q>eeial  charter  .yrtenu  are  di.- 
««»ed  to  the  National  Municipal  I««uXT«„ia>U  pj^^^^l^ 
York.  ?«»).  «Pe«»^  pp.  38-68,  1J»-173:  In  ti»  iSodueTn  to  TaI 
Mun^pa^  Cod,  of  Ohio(ed.  W.  H.  Elli^  Cinobnati.  1909);  in  P.  j! 
^oW.  Municipal  PrMcm,  (New  York.  1904).  ch.  iv. ;  .i;d  in  J  A 
l^  viTr  •»^^'""«>^  Administration  (New  York.  1908).  eh., 
v.-vi.  For  information  oonoeming  the  development  and  detail,  of  tiie 
home^  charter  qmtem.  .ee  J.  P.  Dillon'.  Law  of  Municipal  Cor- 
poroiwn,.  I.  110-118:   M.  R.  Maltbie'.  "City-made  Charter.?  to  y2 

^7'n^t  f^,  Sf"^'  ''^^''   ^°»«  M.  Eaton-. 'arSle:: 
J?^«^V***  ^^^  Setf^vemment,"  to    Harvard  Law  Review    mi 

SS?^b?Srj'  S  ,•  ^^7°  '"^  ^"^  °'  Hor^Lie'to 
wiiM.     by  EDi.  P,  Oberholzer,  and  one  on  "The  Home  Rule  Law  to, 

Michigan  Citie.."  by  G.  A.  MiUer.   to   Proce^^Z    Sf^UoS 

^Z^XtX'J^'  ""?*  !SV**  «-P««tiveIyrand  ti»  buBe^^ 
Home  Ruk  Charter./^  u»aed  by  tiie  Wisconrin  Library  Commiwion, 
Wwjtave  Reference  Department.  A  forcible  and  iStog^wZJ^ 
?n  ••l^iJT°*f*^"  ^ai^  of  the  .yrtom  i.  contatoed  to  th.  booklet 
on     Conrtitutional  Home  Rule  for  Ohio  Qtie.."  prepared  under  tiie 

S^Sd.  "^  ^'  *•  ^**°"  '"  "^  MimidpTSLSn^ 

w^^  ^^^f^J  "**^  ***^  "^  ""'«  «'  "y  ""^  1"»  been 
7^^^  ♦?^,?'..?*^  "^°*^  '^^^  ^  '»^«»  American  citie. 
(most  of  ttiem  foUowing  tiie  oommiuion  plan)  are  printed  to  C  A.  Bt^m 
DigtH  ofShoH  Ballot  Charter,  (New  York,  ^j^^^"^"^^-^^"^^ 


■HHipiiiiiiPPpn 


mmmmmmm 


Thaeitir 
cbtrUrm 
gnntof 


CHAPTER  IV 

MUNICIPAL  POWERS  AND  BE8P0N8IBILmX8 

It  has  been  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  chapter  that 
the  city,  being  a  municipal  corporation,  is  the  creature  of 
the  state.    Like  aU  other  corporations,  it  owes  its  existence 
to  a  statute,  and  it  has  no  powers  save  those  which  may 
be  conveyed  to  it  thereby.    A  city  charter  is  accordingly  a 
gruit  of  authority,  a  delegation  of  powers.    The  exact 
situation  has  been  tersely  stated  by  the  leading  American 
authority  on  the  law  of  municipal  corporations.    "It  is  a 
general  and  undisputed  proposition  of  law  that  a  municipal 
corporation  possesses  and  can  exercise  the  foUowing  pow- 
ers and  no  others.    First,  those  granted  in  express  words  • 
second,  those  necessarily  or  fairly  implied  in  or  incident  to 
the  powers  expressly  granted;  third,  those  essential  to  the 
declared  objects  and  purposes  of  the  corporation,  —  not 
sunply  convenient,  but  indispensable." » 

This  principle,  as  has  been  pointed  out  in  a  weD-knowP 
decision,  IS  fairly  derived  from  the  nature  of  corporations, 
m  a^gate  corporations,  as  a  general  rule,  the  act  and 
will  of  a  majority  is  deemed  in  law  the  act  and  will  of  the 
whole,  and  therefore  is  to  be  carried  into  effect  as  the  act 
of  the  corporate  body.  The  consequence  is  that  a  minority  * 
must  be  bound,  not  only  without  but  against  their  consent. 
Such  obhgation  may  extend  to  every  onerous  duty,  to 
pay  money  to  an  unlimited  amount,  to  perform  services, 

Bo^'i«i?"T"L«S«  ^   t^    Municipal    Corporation,    (5    voli. 

80 


MUNICIPAL  F0WBB8  AND  BI8PONSIBILrnS8        81 

to  nimnder  lands,  and  the  like.  It  is  obvious,  therefore, 
that,  if  this  liability  to  extend  to  unspecified  and  in- 

definite objects,  the  citisen,  by  bong  a  member  of  the 
corporation,  might  be  deprived  of  his  most  valuable  per- 
sonal rights  and  liberties.  Tlie  security  against  this  danger 
is  in  a  steady  adh««nce  to  the  principle  stoted,  that  coi^ 
porations  can  only  exercise  their  powers  over  their  respeo- 
tive  members  for  the  accomplishment  of  limited  and  wdl- 
defined  objects."  > 

Now,  it  is  a  general  rule  of  legal  interpretotion,  in  keep-  ^>oo«n. 
ing  with  the  principles  just  enunciated,  that  the  charters  JSii. 
granted  to  corporations  shall  be  construed  strictly.  In 
other  words,  the  onus  of  proving  the  possession  of  powers 
by  implication  is  upon  the  corporation.  In  general,  how- 
ever, this  rule  of  interpretation  has  not  been  rigorously 
applied  to  the  ordinary  clauses  of  charters  incorporating 
cities,  —  to  those,  for  example,  relating  tv  the  organisation 
of  municipal  government  and  the  functions  of  the  regular 
municipal  departments.  In  regard  to  the  construction  of 
such  clauses  the  courts  have  been  lenient ;  but  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  grants  of  powos  which  are  "out  of  the  usual 
range,  or  which  may  result  in  public  burdras,  or  which, 
in  their  exercise,  touch  the  right  to  liberty  or  property,  or, 
Rs  it  may  be  compendiously  expressed,  any  common  law 
right  of  the  citisen,"*  — in  all  such  matters  the  rigor  that 
is  applied  to  the  charters  of  private  corporations  is  applied 
to  city  charters  as  well.  One  of  the  powers  thus  out  of 
the  ordinary  range  is  that  authorising  a  city  to  engage  in 
any  sort  of  public-utility  enterprise  not  directly  connected 
with  the  police  power  of  the  municipality. 


*  Spuldinc  ».  hawtSl,  23  Ptdtering  (Mm.),  71.  Thto  deeUon  mi^ 
be  oonvaiiiently  foand  in  J,  H.  BmJa's  adtetiiM  tf  Ca-a  oh  Mwiietvdt 
Corpontiam  (OHnbridse,  1911),  240. 

*  J.  F.  DOkn,  Law  of  IfwiMpal  Corporatioiu,  I.  453-463. 


7!Fi 


83 


OOVERNMBNT  OF  AMKBICAN  CITIB8 


RulMof 


Scope <rf 
powen 
uaiuUly 
Cranted. 


When  a  power  has  been  expressly  granted  to  a  city  by 
statute  and  the  mode  of  exercising  this  power  has  not  been 
stated  in  express  terms,  a  liboral  amount  of  discretion  is 
allowed  in  the  choice  of  methods.  The  express  grant  of  a 
power  carries  with  it  the  implication  of  authority  to  provide 
the  machinery  for  carrying  such  power  into  operation; 
and  as  to  the  best  means  of  doing  this  the  regular  mu- 
nicipal officials  are  allowed  full  discretion,  provided  this  dis- 
cretion h  used  in  a  reasonable  way.  Thus,  when  permis- 
sion to  '  t  and  maintain  a  market-house  has  been  given 
to  a  r^ ,  the  courts  will  not,  within  the  bounds  of  reason, 
interfere  with  the  city  authorities  in  determining  the  loca- 
tion or  the  size  or  the  design  of  the  building.*  Or  when 
permission  "to  open  streets  and  make  public  improve- 
ments thereon"  is  giv  the  methods  of  opening  and  im- 
proving are  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  appropriate  city 
authorities,  unless  they  have  been  prescribed  by  statute. 

The  powers  commonly  granted  to  a  municipal  corpora- 
tion, whether  in  express  words  or  by  implication,  are  not  eaay 
to  classify,  for  they  cover  a  considerable  ranges.  In  most 
cities,  however,  they  may  be  grouped  under  six  main 
heads,  — namely,  the  general  legislative  power  '  a  aubor- 
dinate  corporate  body,  the  police  power,  the  .  tax 

and  to  boTow,  the  power  to  appropriate  >  -spend 
money,  the  power  to  enter  into  contracts,  and  the  power  to 
acquire,  manage,  and  dispose  of  property.  Every  Ameri- 
can city  has  all  of  these  general  powers  in  greater  or  less 
degree,  but  rarely  are  they  aUke  in  any  two  cities.  In 
none  is  the  range  of  power  under  any  head  unlimited;  and 
the  limitations  vary  not  only  in  different  states,  but  even 
in  diflferent  cities  of  the  same  state.  What  the  exact  scope 
and  limits  of  a  given  city's  powers  are  under  each  of  these 
heads  is  something  ordinarily  known  to  no  one  but  the 
1  Spoulding  V.  Low^,  23  PiekeHng  (Mas*.),  71,  80. 


MT7NICIPAL  P0W1B8  AND  RI8PON8IBILITII8        88 

city's  legal  adviser,  and  not  always  even  to  him.  An  ac- 
curate knowledge  of  the  subject  can  be  had  only  throu^ 
a  study  of  the  constitutional  provisions  relating  to  citiM, 
of  the  general  statutes  covering  rnvdcipal  affairs,  of  the 
city  charter  and  the  amendments  to  it,  of  the  special  laws 
relating  to  the  city,  and  of  the  judicial  decisions  bearing 
upon  them.    To  master  all  this  is  not  an  easy  task.* 

In  the  second  place,  the  statutory  powers  of  a  city  may  M»nd»to«y 
be  either  mandatory  or  permissive.    In  other  words,  a  '^'*^ 
city  may  be  mvested  either  with  powers  which  it  must  vomm. 
exercise  or  with  those  which  it  may  exercise  if  it  chooses  to 
do  so.    Whether  the  power  falls  into  one  class  or  the  other 
depends  upon  the  intention  of  the  l^;islature  that  granted 
it;    and  this  intention  is  usually  made  clear  by  the  lan- 
guage of  the  enactment.    If  the  statute  provides  that  a 
city  "shall"  or  "must"  do  something,  the  power  thus 
conferred  is  mandatory,  and  it  is  not  within  the  discretion 
of  the  city  authorities  to  refrain  from  exercising  it ;  but  if 
a  statute  provides  that  a  city  "may"  do  something,  or  that 
"it  shall  be  lawful"  for  a  city  to  do  something,  then  the 
power  conferred  is,  as  a  rule,  permissive,  and  the  municipal 
authorities  may  or  may  not  exercise  it.    They  may  not 
always  use  their  discretion,  however;   for  powers  granted 
in  permissive  language  may  be  mandatory  in  effect.    The 
courts  have  in  some  instances  held  that  a  power  conferred 
in  permissive  phraseology  must  be  exercised  if  there  is  a 
clear  public  benefit  to  be  derived  from  it." 

*  A  group  ot  decinoiu  on  tlie  genenl  powen  of  mmiidpftl  oorpontions 
may  be  found  in  J.  H.  Bale's  SOtetion  of  Catea  on  Municipal  Corpora- 
tiont,  240-473. 

'  "It  ig  the  settled  doctrine  in  New  Y(h4c  tot  example,  that  where  a 
public  or  municipal  corporation  at  body  is  invested  with  power  to  do  an 
act  which  the  public  intere»t»  require  to  he  done,  and  the  means  tot  its  com- 
plete performance  are  placed  at  its  disposal,  not  only  the  execution,  but 
the  proper  execution  <rf  the  power,  may  be  inristed  on  as  a  duty,  thou^ 
the  statute  oonf erring  it  be  only  permissive  in  its  terms."— Mayor  of 


■MliPlllilM 


TharnlaiB 
mtoheoek* 
OahrMtoo. 


Munidp*! 
ordiiuuMM. 


H  OOVBSMlflNT  OF  AMIBICAN  Oimi 

But  whether  derived  from  ezpraw  Unguage  or  by  im- 
plication,  and  whether  mandatory  or  permianve  in  effect, 
no  powen  which  are  conferred,  either  by  charter  or  by 
other  aUtute,  upon  the  governing  authorities  of  a  dty,  to 
be  exeroiaed  as  they  may  deem  beat,  may  be  delegated  to 
any  subordinate  official  or  body.    Powers  committed  to  the 
mayor,  to  be  used  at  his  discretion,  cannot  be  delegated 
by  him  to  a  board  or  a  commissioner;  powers  given  to  the 
city  council  canno*  be  transferred  by  it  to  the  mayor  or  to  a 
committee.    All  this,  however,  does  not  apply  to  purely  min- 
isterial functions,  or,  in  other  words,  to  the  carrying  out  of 
administrative  details.    The  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States  has  held  that  the  performance  of  such  work  by  agents 
does  not  constitute  an  unlawful  delegation  of  powers  by  a 
city  council.*    An  ordinance  empowering  the  city  engineer 
to  make  a  selection  between  two  kinds  of  paving  material, 
or  to  determine  the  grade  of  a  sewer,  would  furnish  an  ex- 
ample of  delegated  ministerial  functions.    The  line  between 
discretionary  and  ministerial  offices  is  not  very  sharply 
drawn;   but  the  disposition  of  the  courts  seems  to  have 
been,  on  the  whole,  to  decide  against  delegation  in  all  very 
doubtful  cases.    Any  concession  to  a  subordinate  board  of 
officials  which  seems  capable  of  embarrassing  the  regular 
governing  organs  of  a  city  in  their  exercise  of  governmental 
powers,  or  of  restraining  them  from  a  fuU  performance  of 
their  public  functions,  is  usually  deemed  an  unlawful  dele- 
gation.* 

The  usual  medium  through  which  the  governing  authori- 

New  Tork  v.  Fuu.  3  Bm,  813 ;  dted  by  J.  F.  Dfflon,  Law  of  Munieival 
^^power.  in  E«^.  MoQufilin'.  Law  of  Municipal  Corporation,.  L 


'  Hitohoook  p.  QtlvtaUm,  96  V.  8.  341. 


MUNICIPAL  VOmMSm  AND  BnPONUBIUnBS        85 

ties  of  th«  dty  (t.e.,  the  nuyor  and   dty  eouncil,  or,  in 
dties  that  hav«  adopted  the  system  of  government  by  com- 
misBon,  the  commission)  put  the  powers  of  the  muniei- 
pal  corporation  into  activity  is  the  ordinance.    Within  the 
•cope  of  this  term  are  included  aU  "local  bws  of  a  municipal 
corporation,  duly  enacted  by  the  proper  authorities,  pre- 
Mribing  general,  uniform,  and  permanent  rules  of  conduct 
relating  to  the  corporate  affairs  of  the  munidpaUty."  > 
Powers  given  to  a  city  by  its  charter  or  by  other  stotutee 
are  usuaUy  coupled  with  a  provinon  that  the  dty  coundl 
or  other  legisUtive  organ  of  dty  government  shaU  have 
authority  to  cany  these  powen  into  operation  by  appro- 
prwte  ordinances.    It  is  by  ordinances  that  most  dtiea 
have  organised  their  various  administrative  departments. 
One  oidinance  deals  with  the  poUee  department,  another 
with  streets  and  street  traffic,  another  with  fiie  protection, 
another  with  buUiLng  reguhktions,  and  so  on.    Each  pre- 
scribes in  detaU  not  only  the  way  in  which  the  department 
shaU  be  organised,  its  personnel,  and  the  leUtion  of  the 
vanous  officers,  but,  even  to  minute  particukrs,  the  manner 
m  which  its  work  must  be  carried  on.    In  some  cases  the 
charter  or  other  statutes  give  to  certain  administrative 
bodies,  such  as  the  board  of  health  or  the  tenementrhouee 
commission,  or  even  to  a  single  official,  the  power  to  make 
roles  and  regulations  within  their  respective  fields  oi  juris- 
diction.    These  are  termed  "reguktions,"  not  ordinances; 
but  m  general  they  have  all  the  force  of  ordinances,  and 
they  are  subject  to  the  same  general  restrictions.* 

W04)  2^Judp,  Dflkm  (!«,  ^  Municipal  d^rparation,.  U.  802)  deflMTS 
^^Zr^  by  the  prop.  «ea.Wy  or  r,v«uMr  body  o*  tli. 
ti.LS^'^'"'^."^  r«,M««««.  M  .bove  defined,  »«  shandy  di.- 


fimftitloM 

lipoOtlM 

orUbmm 


1.  0«Btnl 
UmitatiaM. 


3.  Oidi. 
naaoM 
mint  b* 


M  OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMIUCAN  CITIlt 

III  the  esereue  of  their  powen  by  ordinance  (or  by  rego- 
lation.)  the  governing  bodies  of  the  city  are  aubjeet  to 
aeveral  important  limitations.    Some  of  these  are  of  » 
general   nature,   merely  representing   the   appUcation   to 
mumcipal  law-making  of  those  principles  which  apply  to 
state  legisUtion.    An  ordinance  must  not,  for  example,  be 
inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of  the  charter  or  the  statute 
under  which  it  is  passed.    When  a  state  statute  and  a 
mumcipal  ordinance  are  in  conflict,  the  latter  is  of  coune 
mvahd.    To  be  vaUd,  Ukewise,  a  municipal  ordinance  must 
be  passed  with  due  respect  to  the  prescribed  formalities. 
An  ordinance  is  more  than  a  mere  resolution  of  the  councU ; 
when  there  are  standing  requirements  that  it  must  be  intro- 
duced m  a  certain  way,  be  submitted  to  three  readings, 
and  be  approved  by  the  mayor  before  going  into  eflfect, 
these  formaUties  must  be  observed.    But   m  addition  to 
these  general  rules  there  are  some  of  a  more  special  chai^ 
aoter. 

In  the  first  place,  an  ordinance  must  be  reasonable  or  it 
wUl  be  voided  by  the  courts ;  but  it  is  presumed  to  be  reason- 
able until  the  contrary  is  shown.  Unreasonableness  can  be 
demonstrated  either  by  an  examination  of  the  ordinance 
Itself  or  by  an  investigation  of  a  specific  situation  to  which 
It  would  apply.  There  are,  of  course,  no  general  rules  for 
determmmg  what  is  reasonable  and  what  is  not;  each  case 
must  be  decided  on  its  own  merits.  Ordinances  have, 
however,  been  so  often  attacked  in  the  courts  on  this  ground 

SZI^?«^""°^  permanent  rule,  of  conduct  or  f«m«iment;  rewhi. 
Sv  L^!l''r'"l*  ^^"PO'Wy  rule.  only.  A  iSoh^^yTK 
S  5S«Tl  ";  5«r'«'°a  alone,  wherea.  an  ordinan^^3^n^ 
qnm«  the  approval  of  the  mayor,  or  of  the  chief  ewoutive  authoritT 


MUNICIPAL  FOWm  Ain>  BISP0N8IBIUTIIS        87 

thit  there  ii  now  at  hand  •  eoiuidenible  body  of  praoedeatf 
to  guide  the  legid  authoritiee  of  a  dty  ia  adviiing  a  city 
counc^  whether  or  not  any  propoeed  mearare  would  be 
upheld.*    A.  a  rule,  the  oourta  have  given  the  ordinance 
the  benefit  of  any  leriout  doubt;  the  burden  of  proof  ia 
put  upon   him  who  aaaerta  unreaK>nableneM.    It  may 
not  infrequently  happen  that  an  oidinanoe  ia  rea«>nable 
a»  appUed  to  one  situation  and  unnaw^rr^hle  as  applied 
to  another.    In  auoh  oases  it  may  h     .    ^rced  in  one 
case  and  prove  to  be  unenforoeabu    ; .    he  other.    An 
ordinance  is  prima  fade  unreasonable,  »ad  theieforo  void, 
If  It  is  oppressive  in  character;  it  must  not  be  inconsistent 
with  a  reasonable  degree  of  penonal  liberty."    Thus,  a 
Baltmiore  ordinance  which  forbade  any  person  to  use  a 
steam^ngine  within    he  city  limits  except  on  permission 
of  the  mayor  was  held  to  be  oppnssive  and  void  because 
It  sought  to  put  within  the  discretion  of  a  single  officer  a 
practicaUy  absolute  power  over  the  use  of  steam  in  the 
city.     It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  if  an 
ordinance  is  passed  under  a  special  statutory  grant  of 
power,  And  in  acoordr  -^  with  the  terms  and  tenor  of  such 
grant,  the  reasonable     «  of  the  ordinance  cannot  usuaUy 
be  attacked.    Moreovo-r,  it  is  for  the  judge,  not  for  the 
Juiy,  to  decide  whether  an  ordinance  is  reasonable  or  not. 

Ir  *he  secou  !  place,  ordinances  must  not  make  special  a.  orh- 
or  uu.vurranted  discriminations.    When  they  grant  privi-  JT"^ 

>  An  weeOent  flhutmtioii  of  the  dbtioetloB  b«twMii  u  xaammmM»  ^% 

18SB.  An  <»dinuMe  forbkidfaic  the  gM  OMnpuy  to  oimi  a  vmvmA  tJ^ 
It  ^^K  ^  the  rtreet  WM  held  to  be  «nieMt«»We;  one  prSt^ 
Z^^m     """'^    8eeMcQuillfa,l.«„/Ar«n<c<,rf^ 


88 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


4.  Ordi- 
nances 
muat  not 
unreason- 
ably nctnin 
trade. 


leges,  they  must  make  these  privileges  open  to  all  upon 
the  same  terms  and  conditions ;  when  they  impose  restric- 
tions, they  must  make  them  applicable  to  all  persons  in  the 
same  circumstances  or  the  same  class.  An  ordinance  must 
not  single  out  an  individual  and  compel  him  to  do  some- 
thing under  penalty  of  fine;  it  must  not  discriminate  in 
favor  of  residents  as  against  non-residents,*  or  in  favor  of 
some  residents  as  against  others  engaged  in  the  same  busi- 
ness.* On  the  other  hand,  an  ordinance  is  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  discriminatory  because,  although  its  provisions 
are  couchrrl  in  general  terms,  its  force  happens  from  the 
nature  of  things  to  fall  upon  one  individual  or  concern. 
It  is  within  the  power  of  the  city  coimcil  to  make  classifi- 
cations (provided  they  be  reasonable  ones),  and  to  restrict 
the  application  of  an  ordinance  to  any  one  class.  The 
general  rule,  which  applies  alike  to  statutes  and  to  ordinances, 
was  firmly  stated  many  years  ago  in  a  notable  supreme- 
court  decision.' 

Finally,  an  ordinance  must  not  have  the  effect  of  un- 
warrantedly  interfering  with  or  restraining  trade.  If  it 
does,  it  will  be  held  void.  This  is  not  to  imply,  however, 
that  ordinances  may  not  subject  trade  to  reasonable  regu- 
lations.   It  has,  for  example,  been  decided  in  a  well-known 

*  "The  speoifio  regulation  of  one  kind  of  busnneM,  which  may  be  neoes- 
■ary  for  the  protection  of  the  public,  can  never  be  a  just  ground  of  com- 
plaint because  like  restrictions  are  not  imposed  upon  other  busineas  of  a 
different  kind.  The  discriminations  which  are  open  to  objection  are 
those  where  persons  engaged  in  the  same  business  are  subject  to  different 
restrictions,  or  are  held  to  different  privileges  undw  the  same  conditions." 
—  Soon  Hing  v.  Crowley,  113  U.  S.  703,  in  Macy's  Cate;  214. 

<  Ex  parte  Frank,  52  Cal.  606. 

*  "Though  the  law  itself  be  fair  on  its  face  and  impartial  in  appear- 
ance, yet,  if  it  is  applied  and  administered  by  public  authority  with  an 
evil  eye  and  an  unequal  hand,  so  as  practically  to  make  unjust  and  illegal 
discriminations  between  persons  in  similar  circumstances,  materiid  to 
their  rights,  the  denial  of  justice  is  still  within  the  prohibition  of  the 
Constitution."—  Tick  Wo  v.  Hopkins,  118  U.  S.  366,  printed  in  J.  B. 
Thayer's  Catet  on  Coiutitutional  Lav  (2  vols.,  Cam,  ridge,  1805),  I.  774. 


MUNICIPAL  POWERS  AND  RB8P0NSIBIUTIES        89 

case  that  ordinances  requiring  coal  to  be  weighed  at  the 
city  scales  are  entirely  allowable.*    Those,  on  the  contrary 
which  restrain  competition  for  pubUc  works  have  generally 
been  held  void.«    Every  regulation  of  trade  is,  of  course,  a 
restraint  upon  it  in  some  direction;    but  if  the  measure 
seems  designed  to  secure  a  public  good,  and  if  it  imposes 
no  more  restraint  than  is  necessary  to  achieve  this  end,  the 
ordinance  will  be  sustained.    Not  that  it  is  enough  merely 
to  avow  a  pubhc  purpose;    ordinances  bearing  in  their 
preambles  specious  professions  of  soKcitude  for  the  pubhc 
welfare  have  often  been  disallowed.    It  must  be  demon- 
strated that  regulation  in  the  pubUc  interest  is  plainly 
desu-able.    On  this  paramount  consideration  for  the  pubUc 
health,  safety,  and  general  welfare  is  based  the  system 
of  requiring  hcenses  to  be  taken  out  by  aU  persons  engaged 
m  certain  trades  or  occupations,  a  requirement  which  forms 
part  of  the  machinery  employed  by  the  city  in  the  exercise 
of  Its  "police  power,"  and  which  does  not  within  reasonable 
limits  operate  against  the  citizen's  right  to  an  unrestrained 
pursmt  of  this  trade  or  calling.    As  a  monopoly,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  a  restraint  of  trade,  a  mum'cipal  corporation 
cannot  by  ordinance  grant  to  any  company  an  exclusive 
nght  to  use  its  streets  unless  it  has  obtained  from  the  legis- 
lature express  permission  to  do  so.»    Exclusive  franchises, 
given  without  express   statutory  authority,  have  usually 
been  regarded  as  not  warranted  by  any  considerations  of 
pubhc  welfare.    Furthermore,  no  franchise  wiU  be  con- 
strued to  be  exclusive  by  impUcation;  it  must  say  in  un- 
mistakable  terms  that  it  is  so.* 

«  Davii  V.  Anite.  73  loun,  825. 

*  AtlanU  V.  Stdn,  111  Ga.  780. 

•  Long  V.  Duluth,  40  Minn.  280. 

ta.nSj'ir^''  '^""'J^  r  '^  ""^"Wpri  pow»  in  tbe  matter  of  aaxuin- 

^Ir   rf^."*.°- ..^  ^"^  "'^P^  Control  of  PMiTvmZ 
(Aew  lork,  1906),  oh.  viiL  "»*wt6s 


90  GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 

JJf  •^  It  wiU  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  diacuasion  that  not  only 

wrtrirtfaM.  are  the  powers  of  the  city  limited  to  fields  expressly  or 
impUedly  plotted  out  for  it  by  legislative  enactment,  but 
that  even  within  these  limits  the  municipal  corporation 
must  put  its  authority  into  operation  under  strict  Umitations. 
Such  powers  as  it  has  obtained  by  general  grant  it  must  use 
m  a  reasonable  way,  without  discrimination  and  without 
unwarranted  interference  in  the  common  right  to  freedom 
of  trade.    The  logical  result  of  all  this  circumscription  is 
that  cities  are  constant  suppliants  at  the  bar  of  the  legisla- 
ture.   If  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  scope  of  their  powers, 
or  as  to  the  manner  in  which  their  authority  may  be  exer- 
cised,  the  easiest  course,  as  a  rule,  is  to  seek  such  specific 
statutory  action  as  will  make  everything  clear.    It  is  in 
conaderable  degree  to  this  situation  that  the  plethora  of 
special  legislation  commented  upon  in  the  preceding  chapter 
owes  its  existence.    The  European  practice  of  permitting 
a  city  to  do  its  work  under  broad  grants  of  power,  of  assum- 
ing that  it  may  do  whatever  it  is  not  forbidden  to  do,  and  of 
giving  it  wide  freedom  to  choose  its  own  manner  of  doing 
it,  has  done  much  to  save  the  municipal  systems  of  France 
and  Prussia  from  the  maelstrom  of  special  legislation.     It  is, 
moreover,  one  of  the  ironies  of  poUtical  history  that  the 
necessity  of  constant  mendicancy  for  doles  of  power  should 
exist  m  a  land  where  there  is  a  historic  pride  in  free  local 
institutions. 

SSS^"S-        .^f  "^  weU-ordered  governments  power  goes  hand  in  hand 
SSSSSL  responsibility.    In  the  nation  and  the  state  this  re- 

««-•  sponsibiUty  is  popular  rather  than  legal;  in  other  words, 
the  government  is  responsible  to  the  people  at  the  polls, 
not  to  mdividuals  who  may  desire  to  hale  it  before  the 
courts  of  law.  A  national  or  a  state  government  is  legally 
irresponsible,  save  in  so  far  as  it  may  of  its  own  free  will 
submit  Itself  to  the  jurisdiction  of  courts.    This  it  may  do 


MUNICIPAL  P0WEB8  AND  R"''?P0N8IBILITIE8        91 

and  often  does,  by  special  statutes  pennitting  suits  to  be 
brought  against  it.  A  city,  on  the  contrary,  is  in  no  such 
favored  position.  Not  only  is  the  municipal  government 
responsible  to  the  voters,  but  the  corporation  may  be  cited 
beiore  the  ordinaiy  courts  of  justice,  whether  with  or  with- 
out the  consent  of  its  governing  authorities,  and  may  then 
be  made  the  defendant  in  suits  at  law.  The  city  is  liable  to 
be  sued  on  actions  of  contract,  or  for  the  torts  of  its  agents, 
or  m  causes  arising  out  of  its  possession  of  municipal  prop- 
erty. Its  liabihty  is  not,  however,  equaUy  complete  in  aU 
three  classes  of  actions. 

In  the  matter  of  contracts  the  city  is  subject  to  substan-  c«t«c.* 
tiaUy  the  same  rules  as  are  appUed  to  individuals  or  to 
private  corporations.*  A  suit  that  can  be  successfully 
prosecuted  against  an  individual  can  in  the  same  essen- 
tial facts  be  prosecuted  against  a  municipality.  In  an 
action  for  breach  of  contract  the  city  can  urge  only  the 
aame  pleas  and  defences  that  are  open  to  the  individual 
defendant ;  it  has  no  immunities  by  reason  of  being  a  pubKc 
corporation.  It  matters  not  whether  the  contract  has  been 
entered  into  for  a  governmental  or  for  a  commercial  purpose  ; 
the  degree  of  liabiUty  for  breach  is  the  same.' 

In  the  matter  of  liability  for  the  torts,  or  civil  wrongs,  T«ru. 
committed  by  its  agents  or  employees,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  status  of  the  city  is  not  so  simple.  A  municipal  cor- 
poration, so  far  as  the  acts  of  its  officials  are  concerned, 
stands  m  a  dual  position.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  part  of 
the  machinery  created  and  used  by  the  state  for  carrying 
out  the  sovereign  functions  of  the  latter.    For  the  improper 

^uL^S^er^i^SSMr  •*'*^  *"  '•  '•  ''^^''  "^^^  '- 
•  The  munioipal  oorporation  nuiy,  of  ooum.  like  any  other  oorponte 

Jjoi^Mt.  oh^ter^  powe»,  or  that  it  WM  not  mde  by  it.  proper  olJo«; 


il 


Ni 


Liabflitr 
for  theuae 
of  the 
niunieipal 
ordinaaoe 
power. 


82 


GOVBRNMBNT  OP  AMERICAN  CiriBS 


exercise  of  these  functions  the  state  itself  has  no  legal  lia- 
bihty,  nor  can  any  attach  to  those  who  cany  out  these 
functions  under  its  authority.    The  city,  therefore,  so  far 
as  It  is  an  agency  of  state  government  performing  govern- 
mental functions,  cannot  be  held  responsible  for  the  torts  of 
Its  officials  or  employees.    But  the  city  is  also  a  corpora- 
tion,  engaged   veiy  often  in  commercial  or  semi-commer- 
cial  enterprises.    It  is  a  purveyor  of  water,  gas,  or  electricity. 
As  such  It  18  not  performing  strictly  governmental  functions, 
and  hence  must  assume  the  same  Kabihties  as  a  private  cor- 
poration engaged  in  the  same  undertakings.* 

In  keeping  with  these  general  principles,  it  may  be  as- 
serted that  a  city  is  not  Uable  to  civil  prosecution  either  for 
the  non-exercise  of  the  powers  of  subordinate  legislatiou 
given  to  It  by  statute  or  for  the  manner  in  which  it  exercises 
them.  It  IS  not  liable  for  its  neglect  to  provide  ordiminces, 
or  for  Its  failure  to  enforce  them  when  provided.  Such 
habihty  may  be  expressly  estabhshed  by  statute,  but  it 
wiU  not  be  implied.  If  an  individual  is  injured  through  the 
failure  of  the  city  councfl  to  provide  or  to  enforce  an  ordi- 
nance regulating  the  storage  of  explosives,  he  can  recover  no 
damages  from  the  city  treasury.'  Nor  does  the  faflure  of 
the  mumcipal  corporation  to  exercise  its  statutory  power  to 
abate  a  nmsance  give  a  person  who  is  injured  by  the  existence 
of  such  nuisance  an  enforceable  claim  against  the  city, 

I«wer  in  the  «erci«  of  which  tTfrnuSZlS"  t^/^fj  Tf 
the  other  is  of  that  kind  wUoh  ari«M  orTir^H^  #1  ^  mdividual; 

sovereign,     i  be  fonner  power  is  private  and  is  naatt  tm,  .»<»*        •»  •»  » 


'1   I 


MUNICIPAL  POWERS  AND  RB8PON8IBILITIB8        03 

even  though  he  has  duly  notified  the  officials  of  the  nuisance 
and  requested  them  to  use  their  statutory  powers  in  securing 
Its  abatement.*  Most  cities  have  ordinances  regulating  the 
construction  of  buildings  in  the  interest  of  protection  against 
collapse  or  conflagration;  but  if  such  an  ordinance  be  not 
enforced,  and  if  injury  to  the  persons  or  property  of  private 
mdmduals  be  caused  thereby,  no  action  for  damages  can 
be  successfuUy  prosecuted  against  the  municipality.'  The 
United  States  supreme  court  has  g<  3  even  farther,  by  laying 
down  the  principle  that,  even  if  a  city  misinterprets  the 
scope  of  Its  statutory  powers  ppH  undertakes  to  do  in  a 
governmental  capacity  what  it  has  no  authority  to  do 
It  cannot  be  successfully  sued  in  an  action  of  tort.'  The 
power  to  enact  and  to  enforce  ordinances  is  a  governmental 
power,  discretionary  in  its  nature;  and  for  negligence  or 
mistake  m  connection  with  it  the  city  has  no  legal  Uability 

A  municipal  corporation  must  of  necessity  cany  out  its  R«.po«». 
functions,  whether  governmental  or  commercial,  whether  SSt^^ 
pubhc  or  private,  by  means  of  officials,  agents,  and  employ-  -»"2S^ 
ees ;  and  by  a  general  principle  of  law  it  becomes  responsible  ^SSd  i. 
for  what  some  of  them  do.    Certain  classes  of  city  officiate  S3' 
and  employees  are  engaged  in  purely  governmental  or  '     ' 
public  work,  othe-.s  are  just  as  clearly  employed  in  commer- 
cial or  pnvuce  undertakings  conducted  by  the  city.    For 
the  acts  of  the  former  class  the  city  is  not  Uable,  but  it  is 
held  accountal'3  for  torts  committed  by  the  Utter  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties.    A  good  example  of  the    ckss 
engaged  m  the  performance  of  strictlj     -ibUc  or  govern- 
mental functions  is  furnished  by  the  c      iire  depa.tmont. 
in  the  absence  of  express  statutory  provisions  creating 
habihty,  the  municipaUty  is  not  subject  to  claims  for  damages 

I  ?*^  "•  Montgomery,  61  Ala.  130:  Kfloy  v.  Euuu.  87  «r«  ina 
« Powyth ...  Atlanta.  45  Qa.  1«2.  ^^  *  ^^• 

*  Powle  V.  Alezaadria,  3  Piter$,  398. 


AinotioiM. 


For  the 
tortaof 
police 
offiocn* 


M 


GOVERNMBNT  OF  AMSBIOAN  Cmns 


caused  by  the  negligence  or  the  inefficiency  of  this  body.* 
Other  officials  and  employees  who  are  regarded  as  tt*t>irt»«r\g 
public  functions  of  this  class  are  those  connected  with  the 
parks  department,"  with  the  city's  hospital  and  health 
service,'  or  with  the  municipal  administration  of  poor 
relief  *  The  doctrine  which  exempts  the  city  from  l^al 
responsibility  for  negligence  or  inefficiency  on  the  part  of 
such  officials  often  results  in  loss  to  private  individuals, 
who  are  thus  deprived  of  all  effective  redress,  since  to  sue 
the  official  personally  is  not  usually  a  profitable  proceeding. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  system  is  defensible  upon  grounds 
of  practical  policy ;  for,  since  the  city  performs  such  functions 
as  the  protection  of  property  from  fire,  the  maintenance  of 
parks,  the  e&tablishment  of  hospitals,  and  the  care  of  the 
poor  without  hope  or  possibility  of  profit,  it  cannot  reason- 
ably  be  expected  to  penalize  itself  for  every  lapse  from  effi- 
ciency. To  require  the  municipal  corporation  to  insure 
citizens  against  mishaps  in  such  departments  would  be  to 
require  a  guarantee  of  official  infaUibiHty  backed  hy  the 
resources  of  the  municipj  treasury.  Under  a  system  of 
popular  government  the  maintenance  of  such  a  doctrine 
would  prove  rather  costly  to  the  taxpayer. 

The  status  of  the  police  department  is  somewhat  different 
from  that  of  the  departments  just  mei  tioned.  Police  officers 
are  unquestionably  engaged  in  the  performance  of  a  govern- 
mental or  public  function,  and  hence  for  their  sins  of  omission 
or  commission  the  city  would  not  be  liable.  But  the  exemp- 
tion of  the  municipal  corporation  from  liability  for  the  torts 

loJ  ^"t,";  ^^^  ^^°'^'  16  ^<'V  (M«M.),  297;  TMiitor  v.  Woroester, 
laMata.  311.    See  also  Wheeler  v.  CSnoinnati,  19  Ohio,  19,  and  Hayea 

eiS^Sr^  ^  ^"'  ^"*  "  ®**'*''  ^""  *"  ^«'»*">^  Corporotton., 

» Louisville  Park  Commisaonen  v.  Prini,  127  Ky.  460. 

•  Gilboy  V.  Detroit,  115  Mieh.  121,  in  Beale's  Cmm  on  Municipal 
CorporatioM,  682;  also  Maximilian  p.  tiie  Ikfavor,  62  AT.  Y.  160 

*  Curran  v.  Boston,  151  Man.  505. 


MUNICIPAL  FOWIB8  AND  RI8PON8IBILITII8        05 

of  its  poUee  offieen  is  mora  eommonly  bssed  upon  the  pies 
that  they  ara  not  souaiapsl  but  state  agents.  They  an 
as  a  rule,  appointed  by  dty  authorities,  ara  paid  from  the 
city  treasuiy,  and  ara  instructed  in  the  performance  of  their 
dutws  by  municipal  regulations.  But  aU  this  does  not  make 
them  municipal  officers;  it  merely  represents  what  the 
state  has  found  to  be  a  convenient  method  of  securing  pei^ 
formance  of  a  recognized  function  of  state  government,- 
that  of  preserving  the  pubUc  peace  and  order.  Even  in  en- 
fomng  municipal  ordinances  the  poUce  act  as  agents  of  the 
state.  The  authority  to  make  these  ordinances  "is  delegated 
to  the  city  by  the  sovereign  power,  and  the  ezerdse  of  the 
authority  gives  to  such  enactments  the  same  force  and  effect 

as  if  they  had  been  passed  directly  by  the  legisUture.  Thev 
are  pubKc  Uws  of  a  limited  and  local  operation  designed  to 
secure  good  order  and  to  provide  for  the  welfare  and  comfort 
of  the  inhabitants.  In  their  enforcement,  therefore,  poUce 
officers  act  in  their  public  capacity  and  not  as  agents  or 
servants  of  the  city.">  Upon  similar  grounds,  the  city  is 
not  hable  for  negUgence  in  the  performance  of  functions, 
not  strictly  poUce  in  nature,  which  are  nevertheless  some- 
tunes  mtnisted  to  poHce  officers, -as,  for  example,  the 
granting  of  permits,  the  listing  of  voters,  and  so  on. 

M  of  the  foregoing  functions  are  clearly  governmental,  Forth, 
or  puolic.    Some  others  are  quite  as  clearly  commercial,  ^^ 
or  private.    When,  for  example,  a  city  owns  and  operates  ^^^ 
a  sy^m  of  wate^upply  from  which  it  derives  revenue  or  SS 
profit,  It  becomes  liable  for  damages  resulting  from  the  negU-  *"^ 
gence  or  the  incapacity  of  its  employees  comiected  with  the 
workmg  of  the  system.    Its  liability  is  the  same,  both  in 
nature  and  degree,  as  that  of  a  water  company;*  and  the 

» Buttriok  ,.  LoweQ,  1  AJUn  (Mm^).  172.  ia  Bey«.'s  Com  m  MwtM. 

fat  CorporaiionH,  580.  ^^  Muittei. 

*  Murphy  t.  Lowr?!,  la*  Man.  584. 


06 


QOVERNMKNT  OF  AMBRICAN  CITIBS 


What  an 

publie 

/unotimuT 


same  rule  would  apply  to  it  as  owner  of  a  gas  plant  or  an 
electric-lighting  plant.*  Municipal  ownership  of  docks  and 
wharves,  where  tolls  are  charged,  subject  the  city  to  the 
same  legal  liabilities  that  pertain  to  a  private  owner.*  It 
has  also  been  held  that  a  municipal  corporation  is  responsible 
for  damages  caused  by  the  faulty  management  of  public 
cemeteries,  markets,  and  wash-houses.'  All  these  depart- 
ments of  municipal  enterprise  are  within  the  range  of  private 
or  commercial  functions.  When  a  city  enters  into  competi- 
tion with  private  corporations,  it  should  of  course  assume 
responsibilities  similar  to  those  attaching  to  the  latter. 
When  it  displaces  a  private  enterprise  in  favor  of  municipal 
ownership,  it  ought  not  thereby  to  impair  the  redress  hith- 
erto available  for  negligent  or  inefficient  operation.  The 
damages  in  which  the  city  may  be  mulcted  for  the  torts  of 
its  employees  in  these  branches  of  municipal  activity  may 
properly  be  made  a  part  of  the  cost  of  operation  td  be  covered 
by  charges  levied  for  the  service.  Municipal  liability  for 
the  exercise  of  private  or  commercial  functions  seems  thus 
to  be  an  entirely  defensible  doctrine. 

Thus  far  the  distinction  between  public  and  private  func- 
tions has  not  been  difficult  to  draw;  but  there  is  a  con- 
siderable field  of  civic  activity  which  does  not  readily  and 
at  first  sight  fall  into  either  of  these  classes.  As  regards 
the  construction  and  care  of  streets,  for  example,  the  provi- 
sion of  sewers,  the  removal  of  ashes  and  garbage,  and  so  on, 
the  principles  governing  municipal  liability  are  not  so 
easily  described.  In  most  states  of  the  Union  the  courts 
have  held  that  municipal  corporations  are  liable  for  negli- 
gence in  the  performance  of  their  duty  to  keep  the  city 

«  Kibde  V.  PhiUdelphia.  105  Pa.  41 ;  OreenTiUe  v.  Pitts,  102  Texai.  1. 

•  Allegheny  v.  Campbell,  107  Pa.  530. 

•  On  the  detaUed  application  of  this  rule,  see  D.  A.  Jones,  The  Negli. 
gence  of  Municipal  CorporiUiont  (New  York,  1892),  71. 


MUNICIPAL  P0W1B8  AND  IIII8P0N8IBIMTU»        97 

ftreet.  in  proper  condition;  but  for  a  rimilar  default  town, 
and  counties  have  been  held  to  be  not  liable.'  On  theTJ 
o  thmgs,  there  would  .eem  to  be  no  good  rea^n  for  t^ 
distmction,  and  the  court,  have  not  beeVvery  succ«Sul  t 
prodding  one  It  i.  «„netime.  ui^  that  the  s^,  Tt 
TZr  ^°«»««Ware.,  wherea.  the  street,  of  town, 

and  vUUges  are  state  highways,  -  that  the  former  are  mean. 

but  TaTlT'"'  *'*  '***''•  ''''^  °'  intercommunication ; 
but  that  IS  true  m  a  general  way  only,  and  scarcely  in  suffi^ 
«ent  degree  to  warrant  the  broad  distinction  made  by  the 
decjsjons.  However  this  may  be,  the  cai^  of  the  city'; 
str«*s  «  m  most  states  regarded  a.  a  local  duty;  and,  when 

Let,  Tl^"^-  ?'  "*«"«^'»^*  °^  '^'  incapacity  of  ai 
offiadmtrusted  with  this  function,  the  doctrine  of  r^pj^ 

regarf  to  the  sewerage  system,  the  general  princip^  so  far 
as  the  decisions  n»ay  be  said  to  establish  a  general  prLcipte 

are  performmg  a  public  and  discretionaiy  function  and 
hence  are  not  liable  for  injuries  arising  fi^Jfaulty^?!^^ 

to  serve  their  purpose  properly.    The  task  of  keeping  the 

proper  repau.  ui  a  nunisterial  function,  for  negUgence  in  th^ 
performance  of  which  the  city  is  Uable.'    Much^versity  of 


GOyiBNMINT  OF  *MlB!f:'AN  dTUt 


I 


bOMMof 
thedty 
wtthNfar. 
MM  to  Hi 


opinion  is  diseloied  by  the  dcddoni  bearing  upon  the  lia- 
bility of  a  munieipal  corporation  for  the  torts  of  its  officials 
and  employees  engaged  in  cleaning  the  streets  and  in  remov- 
ing refuse  and  garbage.  In  some  eases  he  courts  have 
regarded  these  ftmctions  as  governmental,  and  so  have  u»- 
nied  the  city's  liability ;  in  other  eases  th^  have  ruled  that 
the  city,  in  performing  tUs  sort  of  work,  acts  in  a  private 
or  commercial  capacity,  and  must  therefore  assume  the  same 
liabilities  as  an  ordinary  corporation  or  individual* 

The  legal  responsibility  of  the  dty  extends  not  only  to 
torts  committed  by  its  officials  when  engaged  in  performing 
a  private  or  commercial  function  for  the  municipality,  but 
also  to  any  claims  that  may  arise  from  defects  in  city 
property  which  is  not  exclusively  devoted  to  governmental 
uses.  When  the  city  owns  and  uses  buUdings  solely  for 
public  purposes,  as  the  city  hall,  the  schoolhouses,  the 
police  and  fire  stations,  it  is  ordinarily  not  liable  for 
damages  caused  by  neg^gence  in  the  construction  or  repair 
of  them.'  If,  however,  the  municipal  authorities  permit 
such  a  building  to  be  used  for  other  than  public  purposes, 
as  for  private  entertainments,  the  city  must  assume  lia^ 
^ility  for  any  injuries  ensuing.*  This  is  a  branch  of  law 
^pon  which  the  array  of  judicial  decisions  is  at  present  very 
perplexing.  The  general  drift  seems  to  be  in  the  direction 
of  extending  civic  liability,  even  in  the  case  of  property 
devoted  wholly  to  public  use.    Indeed,  the  manifest  desire 

the  varioiu  deddou  printed  in  8.  D.  Thompeon's  Com*  on  Munieipol 
Negligenee,  eepecially  II.  825  ff. 

» See  the  OMea  cited  in  J.  P.  Dfflon'i  Law  of  Municipal  Corporatvma, 
IV.  2900. 

*  There  have,  howevOT.  been  »  good  many  exoeptiona  to  this  genenl 
rule.  See  P.  J.  Ooodnow's  chapter  on  "The  liability  of  Municipal  Corw 
porations  for  their  Manacement  d  Property,"  in  his  Municipal  Horn* 
Rule. 

•  Eastman  v.  Meredith,  36  AT.  H.  296,  in  Beale's  Catea  on  Municipal 
Corporatimt,  671 ;  Oliver  v.  Worcester,  102  Matt.  480. 


MUNICIPAL  POWIM  AND  BItPONIIBILITIIB        M 


of  the  eoiurtf  to  give  every  poMible  eeourity  to  the  rights 
of  individuftls  hM  impelled  them  in  reeent  yean  to  the  polioy 
of  putting  municipal  coiporationi  upon  the  lame  plane  of 
legal  responiibility  ai  private  individuals,  so  far  as  property 
ii  eoncemed. 

A  rather  special  field  of  municipal  powers  and  duties  is 
connected  with  the  rdations  of  the  city  to  public-service 
companies.  This  is  a  subject  too  extensive  and  too  complex 
to  be  dealt  with  in  any  general  treatise  on  mtmicipal  govern- 
ment ;  for  not  only  does  it  include  the  scope  and  the  limita- 
tions of  municipal  franchise-granting  powo*,  but  it  involves 
such  important  questions  as  the  authority  of  the  dty  to 
regulate  the  rates  charged  and  the  quality  of  the  service 
rendered.  On  these  points  even  the  general  principles  of 
law,  as  enunciated  in  judidal  decisions,  are  not  easily 
formulated;  but  two  rules  may  be  laid  down  with  some 
degree  of  assurance.  In  the  iirst  place,  the  courts  have  been 
rather  reluctant  to  abandon  the  old  notion  that  public 
advantage  can  be  best  secured  by  the  competition  of  two 
or  more  enfranchised  public-service  corporations  operating 
within  the  same  locality.  Students  of  applied  economics 
have  long  since  become  convinced  that  no  permanent,  effec- 
tive competition  in  a  natural  monopoly,  such  as  a  water,  gas, 
electric,  telephone,  or  transportation  service,  can  be  carried 
on  in  the  same  area  of  patronage.^  But  even  in  recent  years 
the  courts  have  held  that  benefits  will  accrue  to  the  public 
from  competition  in  the  operation  of  public  utilities,  and 
hence,  in  the  absence  of  expten  statutory  authority,  have 
denied  the  power  of  the  municipality  to  grant  exclusive 

*  "Thwe  we  wme  g«iund  iwindplM  which  we  wUh  to  praaeat  m 
praoticaUy  the  unuiimoiu  ■entiment  of  oar  oommittee.  Tint,  we  widi 
to  emph«rize  the  feot  that  the  pubUo  utOitfes  stodied  we  w  oonititated 
that  it  is  imponible  fw  them  to  be  regolated  by  oOTapeti^wi." — Natiosai. 
Civic  Fbobbation,  BepoH  on  Municipal  and  PrimUt  OpiraHon  of  PyMio 
UtaUiu  (3  volfc.  New  Yorlr,  1907),  Ft.  I.  toL  L  23. 


of  thecHjr 
Ib  ntectos 
topabUe- 


100 


OOVBRNMKNT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIBS 


franchi«eg.  They  hftve  likewiM  refuMd  to  imply  exelu- 
siveneM  wherever  any  other  reMonable  conitruotion  of  » 
franchise  is  possible,  and  this  even  when  the  municipality 
has  admitted  powers  derived  from  express  sUtutory  grant.^ 
On  the  other  hand,  they  have  not  vmtured  to  trust  competi- 
tion as  the  sole  means  of  regulating  public  services.  They 
have  readUy  admitted  the  authority  of  the  legislature  (within 
the  bounds  prescribed  by  the  federal  id  state  constitu- 
tions) to  make  reasonable  regulations  as  lo  rates  charged 
and  quality  of  service  provided;  but  they  have  denied  to 
the  municipal  corporation  any  such  right  of  regulation, 
save  when  it  has  been  expressly  delegated  to  the  city  by 
the  legislature  or  when  the  power  to  regulate  has  been  re- 
served in  the  franchise  itself.* 

Surveying  the  powers  and  liabilitiet  of  the  American  city 
as  a  whole,  and  comparing  them  with  those  attaching  to  the 
cities  of  Europe,  one  need  have  little  hesitation  in  pro- 
nouncing them  both  too  narrow.    In  the  first  half  of  th« 
nineteenth  century  broad  grants  of  power  to  municipalities 
were  ve.y  common  but  this  practice  was  in  due  course 
abandoned  and  in  more  recent  years  legal  restrictions  have 
greatly  hampered  the  cities  of  the  United  States  in  the  pei^ 
formance  of  their  logical  functions  of  local  administration. 
Legislatures  and  courts  have  been  at  one  in  their  reluctance 
to  aUow  the  municipal  corporation  that  free  scope  which 
it  enjoys  abroad.    This  attitude  of  mistrust  has  had   a 
depressing  effect  upon  city  government,  and  has  undoubtedly 
contributed  to  the  half-heartedness  with  which  municipal 
authorities  too  often  undertake  the  performance  of  their 
duties.    Moreover,  the  poUcy  of  so  carefuUy  guarding  the 
municipal  corporation  from  civil  liability  for  the  improper 

T>„1***  ^'  ^  f^°«*' ^»»»<">»'  CotUrol  of  PMie  Vtaitiet.  oh.  viiL  ("TImi 
Power  to  grant  Exehiaive  PnuichiaM  ").  •»•  v   iw 

'  Ibid.,  oh.  ix. 


MUNICIPAL  POWBBl  AMD  BIIPONtlBILITIlS      101 

perfomumM  of  its  publie  or  govenunentAl  funotioni  hM  not 
improbably  contributed  to  thepopuUr  piOliation  of  negligence 
•nd  inefficiency.  In  the  cities  of  France  and  Qermany,  where 
an  aggrieved  individual  may  bring  suit  in  the  administrative 
courts,  and  mulct  the  municipal  treasury  for  the  nei^gence 
or  the  incapacity  of  any  city  officer,  no  matter  what  Us  sphere 
of  emplo3rment,  the  premium  thus  put  upon  care  and  effid«ioy 
has  been  a  salutary  factor  in  securing  high  standards  in 
local  administration.  A  wider  range,  both  of  power  and  of 
liability,  seems  to  be  not  the  least  among  the  needs  of  the 
American  city  to-day. 


ttUWKBKeWt 

TIm  BMwt  «dMiuthr«  tnatiw  on  Um  ri^to  and  dntfM  of  miiBk>l 
MitlioritiMisJ.F.DilloB'sLaw ^JTwiMiMl  Ctrptn^tiu  (Mh  ad.,  5  vok., 
Bottim,  1911),  •  eomptdburfT*,  Vtum^  Md  Mmmto  wo^  and  a 
worthy  mraupkr  of  Amwioaa  kgal  tdiotenUp.  An  •qwtly  iavahnbl* 
oommMitMry  to  Eugra*  MaQaOUa'i  Law  o/  MvnteiptU  Ctrfonttmu  (0 
•nit.,  ChicHo.  lOn-1912),  of  wUeh  only  tlw  Mtrikr  T«diiiiiM  havo  jH 
oomo  Crom  Um  immm.  The  lattar  ooataia  nuy  htotorfaal  dfaooMioiia. 
In  the  prqwimtion  of  the  tangoing  oatliae  both  thaoe  wovki  have  been 
of  mat  MTviee.  Many  of  the  kading  oaeae  nftaied  to  in  thwe  tnattoea 
are  inohided  in  J.  H.  Beale'a  SaUeMon  ef  Ciut$  en  Mimidpal  Corpon- 
Hon*  (CamMdge,  1911).  ^nd  in  John  E.  Maey't  SdteHon  tf  Catta  on 
Mvnieipal  or  PubUe  Corrrttion;  Boston,  1911. 

Spedal  wnka  whioh  win  be  found  vahiaUe  in  thefar  wepeetive  Hckto 
are  Eugene  MeQnillin's  Law  of  Mmieipal  OrMnaneot  (Chieaco,  lOM), 
and  D.  A.  Jonee'a  No^ifneo  ti  Mwtieipal  CorporaUono  (New  Toi^  1882). 
In  Ptofeewr  F.  J.  Goodnow'i  Mwieipal  Horns  RuU  ^ew  Toik.  1908) 
there  are  eome  lueid  diaeoMione  of  mnnidpal  powera  and  UabOitiea ;  and 
attention  may  alao  be  oalkd  to  the  ohapter  on  "The  Legal  Pbdtion  of 
the  Modorn  City  "  in  hto  Jf  unMjMii  Oooommont  (New  YoA,  1909).  Thara 
i«  a  chapter  on  "The  Legal  Powers  of  the  Municipality  "  in  L.  S.  Rowe'a 
Problem*  of  CUy  OootrnttutU  (New  York,  1908);  and  O.  L.  Pond'a  M^ 
nieipal  Control  of  Pvblie  UtaUU*  (New  Torit,  1906)  to  a  brief  but  oaefttl 
study  of  the  attitude  <a  Amwiean  eourta  toward  an  inoreaae  in  the  qdiere 
of  municipal  activity.  Some  data  on  the  same  topio  may  be  fonnd  in 
p.  F.  THlooz'a  Municipal  Franehi$«t  (2  vola..  New  Y«t.  1910) ;  r.nl  tn.  >. 
is  an  fflrminating  ehapter  on  "Freedmn  of  InecnrpMation"  in  BimtuuS. 
Baldwin'a  Uodtm  PaUOeal  ItMUulimo  (Boaton,  18M). 


Mi 


I'f 


Importance 
of  the 
eleotonte. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  anJNICIPAL  ELECTORATB 


Frequent 
taakaim- 
poeed  upon 
the  Ameri- 
CMimunici> 
pal  voter. 


First  m  point  of  unportance  among  the  active  o^ans 
of  Amencan  city  govenunent  is  the  electorate  iteelf^oT 
m  other  words,  the  body  of  municipal  voters.    The  com! 
posmon  of  this  body  is  of  greater  importance  in  Wa 
than  ,t  IS  m  European  countries,  becauThere  the  eleT^t^ 
participates  more  frequently  and  more  directly  Tactud 
f^'^'^l^-- ^^  doe.  t^ere.    The  American  mm^eSd 
voter  IS  called  to  the  polls  practicaUy  every  year,  X^ 
the  French  voter  casts  his  ballot  at  a  munici^aJ^ele^tir^y 
once  m  four  years,  and  most  of  the  voters  in  Prussian  cS 

ellrXnl  ''"''  "'r^''''  *^^  AmericT^rctd 
elector,  when  he  goes  to  the  polls,  has  a  larger  task  to  per- 
form. He  IS  not,  like  the  voter  in  an  EngSh,  fLoT^ 
German  city,  asked  to  select  merely  one  name  from  a  'li^' 
of  two  or  three  candidates.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  usual^ 
caUed  upon  to  scan  a  baUot  containing  s^res  o"  Tm^ 
and  to  register  thei^n  his  choices  for  a  ^I'r "; 
more  mumcipal  offices.  "~i-Moien  or 

Not  ODly  is  the  AmericM  municipal  electorate  reouiied 

^^^of  ;f  ^^  1  "'^  ^™™""''  •>"'  -"--^ 

syetem  of  pnmaiy  electioM  hw  been  «lonted  it  i.  .ho 
expected  to  nominate  the  c«.did.te.  „  weS.    lie  voS^ 
of  the  city  have  thus  a  double  responmbiKtv  th.t  „f  T 
mg  the  candidate,  and  of  .^C^^  tlZ 

.V  ^  w  *°""'-  ^  *'"  °««  »'  «<>  other  cZVZ 
to  dual  f^ctfan  imp,«d  upon  the  electorate.  TZ^ 
•nd  Germany  the  i^tem  of  Wofc^  oft«  work,  oj" 

102 


THE  MUNICIPAL  ELECTORATE 


103 


something  Uke  a  primaiy  and  a  final  election ;  but  in  these 
countries  the  preliminary  election  becomes  final  whenever 
any  one  candidate  gets  a  clear  majority  of  the  polled  votes.» 

FinaUy,   the   demands   upon   the   American    municipal  Th. 
electorate  are  heavier  than  those  of  European  cities  because  ^*£^ 
the  voters  are  here,  with  much  greater  frequency  than  ^ 
abroad,  called  upon  to  participate  directly  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  city  affairs  by  deciding  questions  submitted  to 
them  on  the  ballot.    The  increased  facilities,  developed  in 
so  many  American  cities  during  the  last  decade,  for  the  use 
of  the  initiative,  the  referendum,  and  the  recall  have  greatly 
augmented  the  voter's  responsibiUty,  and  have  in  conse- 
quence made  the  composition  of  the  electorate  a  matter  of 
more  vital  importance  than  it  used  to  be.    It  is  true  that 
municipal  voters  in  England  are  sometimes  asked  to  pass 
upon  questions  submitted  to  them  by  referenda;   but  no 
English  city  has  any  provision  for  the  mandatory  initia- 
tive or  the  recaU,  nor,  except  in  Switxerland,  have  the  cities 
of  continental  Europe  any  system  of  direct  legisUtion. 
Their  voters  take  no  direct  part  in  civic  law-making  or 
administration,  but  exert  only  an  indirect  control  through 
their  elected  councillors. 

It  is  because  of  this  more  frequent  and  moi«  extensive  Pbpui„ 
participation,  direct  and  indirect,  of  the  American  voter  ^^^ 
in  the  government  of  his  city  that  the  problem  of  safe-  «»»»«>«» 
guarding  the  electorate,  both  as  to  its  composition  and  as  "*^ 
regards  the  normal  influences  which  exert  themselves  upon 
it,  is  of  greater  importance  in  the  United  States  than  it  is 
abroad.    Yet  the  subject  has  not  received  in  America  the 
attention  which  its  importance  warrants.    In  all  the  coun- 
tries of  Europe  questions  relating  to  the  suffrage  have  prob- 
ably had  more  careful  consideration  than  has  been  given 

« See  th.  disouMion  of  thk  fe»ta»  in  Monro's  O^vtmment  ,4  Euro- 
Pean  Cttet  (New  Ywk,  1«»),  25-35,  140-145. 


i 


104 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Hiatory  of 

theauffrage 

inAoMriea. 


to  them  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Taking  manhood 
suffrage  as  an  unalterable  feature  of  the  political  system, 
reforming  movements  in  America  have  been  disposed  to 
concentrate  their  chief  attention  upon  the  instruments  with 
which  the  electorate  performs  its  work  rather  than  upon 
the  make-up  of  the  voters'  lists.  The  public  temper  has  not 
been  at  all  tolerant  of  proposals  to  put  any  important 
limitations  upon  the  policy  of  manhood  suffrage.  The 
suggestion  of  a  property  qualification  for  voting  would  not 
get  a  serious  hearing  in  any  American  city.  Nor,  indeed, 
would  such  a  suggestion  seem  to  merit  any  consideration, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  even  a  nominal  property-holding 
qualification  would  probably  disfranchise  a  majority  of  the 
present  manhoodnsuffrage  voters.  In  a  previous  chapter 
attention  has  been  drawn  to  the  small  percentage  of  home- 
owning  heads  of  families  in  cities  Uke  Boston  and  New  York ; 
and  from  these  figures  some  idea  can  be  gathered  as  to  the 
havoc  which  the  imposition  of  any  form  of  real-property 
test  would  work  upon  the  present  composition  of  the  elec- 
torate.* It  ought  to  be  pointed  out,  moreover,  that  such  a 
test  for  voting  does  not  now  exist  in  any  of  the  chief  Euro- 
pean cities.  What  appears  at  first  glance  to  be  a  property 
qualification  is  merely  a  requirement  that  citizens,  in  order 
to  be  voters,  shall  either  occupy  tax-paying  property  or 
pay  a  certain  minimum  in  annual  taxes  into  the  public 
treasury. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  American  political  development, 
it  is  true,  property  qualifications  for  voting  were  practically 
universal.  In  none  of  the  colonies  was  manhood  suffrage 
the  rule.  Nor  was  it  established  as  an  immediate  result 
of  the  Revolution.  The  Declaration  of  Independence 
asserted  the  inalienable  natural  right  of  all  men  to  a  voice 
in  the  conduct  of  their  governmental  affairs ;  but  not  even 
'  8«e  above,  pp.  47-48. 


THE  MUNICIPAL  BLBCTORATB 


105 


after  they  had  achieved  their  autonomy  did  the  states 
hasten  to  make  provision  for  a  government  which  would 
depend  for  its  continuance  upon  the  consent  of  all  the 
governed.    With  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution, 
however,  a  reaction  against  property  tests  began,  and  the 
movement  received  some  impetus  from  the  plausible  dog- 
matism  of  the  French  Revolution,  which  had  its  echoes  in 
America.    Then,  in  the  first  three  or  four  decades  of  the 
nineteenth  century  came  the  fiercer  competition  of  poUti- 
cal  parties  and  the  inevitable  reaching  out  for  new  voters.* 
One  by  one  the  states  abolished  both  property  and  tax 
requirements,  which  had,  however,  even  before  they  were 
given  up,  remained  in  many  cases  unenforced.    The  crest 
of  the  abolition  wave  came  during  the  period  1820-1845.' 
In  this  interval  New  York,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
New   Jersey,   Tennessee,    and   DeUware   threw  property 
qualifications  overboard;  and  when  new  territories  were 
formed  their  assemblies  were  usually  left  to  fix  the  standing 
qualifications  for  voting.    As  they  ahnost  invariably  adopted 
the  policy  of  manhood  suffrage  from  the  outset,  and  as  no 
change  took  place  when  the  territories  were  admitted  to 
statehood,  the  w^deiing  of  the  suffrage  thus  went  hand  in 
hand  with  the  expansion  of  membership  in  the  Union. 
By  1860  it  had  established  itself  as  the  dominant  practice. 

It  is  approximately  correct  to  say  that  in  an  American  Pntut 
city  every  adult  male  citiaen  is  entitled  to  vote  at  munici-  SSSfaT 
pal   elections.    It  is  not  strictly  true,  however;  for  there  «»*Nfin 
are  many  departures  from  the  rule,  by  reason  of  the  fact  iSS!**" 
that  the  laws  relating  to  qualifications  for  voting  are  made 
by  the  several  states,  which,  subject  to  certain  limitations 


«  A  rood  a«ootmt  of  thii  nunrement  ia  ghreo  in  PtofflMor  P.  W.  Blaok- 
mar's  artiele  on  "The  Hiatoiy  of  SufEnce  in  Legiaiation  in  the  United 
Btateg.    in  the  Chatavquatt,  XXII.  2»-34  (Oetobw,  IMS). 

*  See  above,  pp.  11-12. 


Miiiii 


106 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


t'.| 


ill 


r» 


2.  Citiien- 
■bip. 


imposed  by  the  federal  constitution,  are  free  to  establish 
such  requirements  as  they  choose.  As  they  have,  for  the 
most  part,  made  rules  that  do  not  differ  widely,  variations 
in  the  texture  of  the  electorate,  even  though  they  are  more 
niunerous  than  is  commonly  realized,  are  not  of  great  im- 
portance. In  all  but  three  of  the  states  qualifications  for 
voting  are  the  same  at  the  regular  state  and  city  elections,^ 
a  feature  that  distinguishes  the  American  from  the  English 
and  German  electoral  systems.  In  some  states,  as  in 
Massachusetts,  there  are  special  laws  by  which  the 
suffrage  on  school  matters  is  wider  than  on  ordinary  state 
and  municipal  issues.  In  other  states  the  right  to  vote  at 
special  elections  called  to  decide  certain  questions,  such  as 
the  authorizing  of  municipal  loam,  is  restricted  to  property 
taxpayers.  In  general,  however,  all  those  who  are  qualified 
to  vote  at  state  elections  have  the  same  right  at  the  mu^ 
nicipal  pollings,  and  the  same  voters'  lists  are  almost  always 
used  at  the  two  elections. 

Without  exception,  all  the  states  have  adopted  the  old 
English  rule  fixing  twenty-one  years  as  the  age  of  polit- 
ical majority.  As  the  enrolment  of  voters  takes  place 
some  time  before  the  annual  elections,  however,  it  is  usually 
provided  that  a  person  otherwise  qualified  may  have  his 
name  put  upon  the  voters'  list  before  reaching  his  twenty- 
first  birthday  if  the  election  comes  shortly  after  that  date. 

In  the  minds  of  most  people  voting  rights  are  inseparably 
associated  with  citizenship.  In  practice  the  two  do  usually 
go  together,  but  this  association  is  not  at  all  necessary. 
There  are  thousands  of  American  voters  who  are  not  citi- 


'  The  exceptions  are  Rhode  Island  (see  p.  114,  below),  Kansas,  ^diero 
female  suffrage  exists  in  municipal  but  not  in  state  elections;  and 
New  York,  where  women  are  not  pen  'itted  to  vote  at  state  elections, 
but  are,  if  they  own  property  and  are  otherwise  qualified,  allowed  to 
have  a  voice  in  town  and  village  elections  upon  questions  involving  lonl 
taxation. 


I'  I 


j: 


THE  MUNICIPAL  BLBCTORATB 


107 


MM,  and  there  are  many  more  thousands  of  American 
citizens  who  are  not  voters.    This  is  because  the  laws 
govemmg  citizenship  are  made  by  one  authority,  and  those 
relating   to    suffrage   quaUfications   by   forty^ight    other 
authonties.    Citizenship  is  a  matter  of  federal  jursidiction : 
Congress  alone  decides  who  are  American  citizens  and  who 
are   not.    Congress   likewise  establishes   the  rules  under 
which  aUens  may  become  citizens,  and  provides  the  ma- 
chmeiy  for  admitting  to  citizenship.    Voting  rights,  on  the 
other  hand,  come  within  the  sphere  of  state  jurisdiction. 
Each  state  determines  who  shall  vote,  not  only  at  its  own 
state  and  municipal  elections,  but  at  presidential  and  con- 
gressional elections  as  weU.    In  this  matter  each  state  has 
entire  discretion,  subject,   of  course,  to  the  weU-known 
general  restrictions  contained  in  the  constitution  of  the 
Umted  States.*    These  limitations  do  not  preclude  a  state 
from  giving  the  franchise  to  non-citizens;   and  nine  states 
aUow  non-citizens  to  vote.    Alabama,  Arkansas,   Kansas, 
Indiana,  Missouri,  Nebraska,  Oregon,  South  Dakota,  and 
Texas  require  only  that  an  aUen  shall,  in  due  form  and  at 
a  fixed  date  preceding  the  election,  have  declared  his  in- 
tention to  become  a  citizen.' 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  existing  federal  laws  relating  tt««. 
to  citizenship  by  naturalization,  the  formal  "declaration  of  S^<S^ 
intention"  may  be  made  by  any  aUen  who  is  "a  white  •"«""' 
person,  or  of  African  nativity  or  of  African  descent,"  before  SST^ 
any  federal  court  or  any  court  of  record  having  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  place  in  which  he  Uves.     Such  declaration 
may  not  be  filed,  however,  until  the  ahen  has  reached  the 
age  of  eighteen  yeare.    The  declaration  must  contain  in- 

» Art.  riv.  I  2.  and  ut.  xv. 
th^"  other  statei,  Michlgwi  and  Wiseonrin,  .How  voting  rights  to 

ber  1, 1908 respeotirely,  declared  their  intention  to beoomedtisenT^ 


106 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Frooedun 
in  nktunli- 


j'- 


>  ;{■ 


formation  as  to  the  applicant's  name,  age,  parentage,  occu- 
pation, coimtiy  of  origin,  and  time  and  place  of  arrival  in 
the  United  States ;  and  it  must  further  announce  his  inten- 
tion to  become  a  citizen,  and  thereby  to  divest  himself  of 
all  allegiance  to  any  foreign  sovereign.^  A  copy  of  this 
declaration,  under  the  seal  of  the  court,  is  given  to  the  alien, 
and  must  be  presented  by  him  when  he  applies  for  final 
naturalization. 

Not  less  than  two  years  after  an  alien  has  filed  his  dec- 
laration of  intention,  and  after  not  less  than  five  years' 
continuous  residence  in  the  United  States,  he  may  file  a 
petition  for  letters  of  full  citizenship  in  any  one  of  the 
variotis  courts  designated  by  law  as  having  authority  over 
naturaUzation  matters,  provided  that  he  has  lived  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  this  court  at  least  one  year  immediately 
preceding  the  filing  of  his  petition.  The  petition  must  be 
signed  by  the  applicant  himself,  and  must  give  full  answers 
to  a  set  of  prescribed  questions.  If  the  alien  has  arrived 
in  the  United  States  since  J\me  29,  1906,  his  petition  must 
be  accompanied  by  a  docimient  from  the  United  States 
immigration  authorities  certifying  the  time  and  place  of 
his  arrival.  In  addition,  he  must,  when  he  files  his  ap- 
plication, bring  forward  the  sworn  statements  of  two  wit- 
nesses (both  of  whom  must  be  citizens  of  the  United 
States)  in  personal  testimony  to  his  five  years'  continuous 
residence  and  his  moral  character,  and  in  substantiation 
of  the  other  claims  made  in  his  petition.  After  this  paper 
has  been  left  with  the  clerk  of  the  court  it  must  lie  on  file 
for  at  least  ninety  days,  during  which  notice  of  its  filing 
is  posted.  In  this  interval,  also,  an  investigation  of  the 
petitioner's  claims  is  imdertaken  by  one  of  the  federal 


>  Citizenship  may  be  aoquired,  without  fonnal  deolaration  of  inten- 
tion, by  aliens  who  have  served  a  certain  term  in  the  United  States  army 
or  navy  and  have  been  honorably  discharged. 


THB  MUKICIPAL  BLBCTORATE 


109 


agents  maintamed  for  the  puipose.  All  these  foimalities 
having  been  attended  to,  the  court  sets  a  date  for  a  hearing 
upon  the  petition.  This  hearing,  which  must  be  public, 
cannot  take  place  within  thirty  days  preceding  a  regular 
election.  Both  witnesses  must  attend  the  hearing  with 
the  applicant,  and  must  answer  such  questions  as  may  be 
put  to  them  by  the  presiding  judge,  who  may  also  demand 
from  the  applicant  assurance  that  he  is  not  affiliated  with 
any  organization  teaching  disbeKef  in  organized  government, 
and  that  he  is  attached  to  the  principles  embodied  in  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States.  If  the  court  is  satisfied 
upon  these  various  points,  the  clerk  will  issue  letters  of 
citizenship,  or  final  papers,  as  they  ar«  more  commonly 
caUed;  and  this  issuance  is  made  a  matter  of  permanent 
court  record. 

These  strict  rules  concerning  naturalization   procedure  NstundiM. 
are  the  outcome  of  an  attempt  to  put  an  end  to  various  S'SS* 
abuses  that  existed  under  previous  naturalization  arrange- 
ments.   Prior  to  1906,  when  the  process  of  naturalization 
was  simpler  and  easier,  fraudulent  admission  to  citizenship 
was  all  too  common.    Sometimes  an  alien  got  himself  en- 
roUed  upon  the  voters'  list  by  means  of  forged  papers; 
and,  since  there  were  so  many  courts  with  authority  to 
grant  these  papers,  the  detection  of  foigeries  was  not  easy. 
More  often  crowds  of  aUens  were  admitted  to  citizenship 
during  the  days  preceding  an  election,  when  no  careful 
investigation  of  their  statements  was  possible.    Paid  wit- 
nesses were  sometimes  provided  by  party  managers  to 
take  oath  as  to  matters  which  they  knew  nothing  about. 
Not  uncommonly  the  same  witnesses  appeared  for  a  dozen 
or  more  aUens.     In  fact,  the  naturalization  of  foreign- 
ers became  one  of  the  regular  undertakings  of  the  ward 
organization:    the  apphcant's  petition  was  made  out  for 
him,  his  witnesses  were  supplied,  and  in  many  cases  he  was 


■1 


110 


OOVIBNMBKT  OF  AMIRICAN  OITIIS 


merely  a  participant  in  procedure  which  he  did  not  under- 
stand. The  handling  of  fifty  or  sixty  naturalisations  per 
hour  was  not  a  rare  achievement  in  New  York  courts  before 
the  stricter  rules  went  into  force.  Under  such  pressure 
during  the  days  preceding  the  registration  of  voters  all 
careful  scrutiny  of  petitions  was  out  of  the  question ;  and 
the  voters'  lists  of  the  largw  cities  were  regularly  padded 
with  the  names  of  persons  who  had  not  fulfilled  the  stated 
qualifications  for  admission  to  citizenship.  Since  1906 
these  abuses  have  been  almost  wholly  eliminated.  The 
requirement  that  the  applicant  shall  produce  an  immi- 
gration certificate,  that  his  petition  shall  lie  on  file  for  ninety 
dajrs,  and  that  there  shall  be  no  court  hearing  on  naturali- 
zation matters  within  thirty  days  of  a  regular  election  has 
reduced  fraudulent  practices  to  a  mininmni. 
The  OM         Although  naturalization  abuses  were  chiefly  the  result  of 

IneentiTe  .  ,  ^  — - 

to  frMidu-  overzeal  on  the  part  of  political  agents,  they  were  never- 
toti^*'"**'  theless  inspired  to  some  extent  by  those  rules  which  in  many 
cities  forbid  the  emplo3rment  of  unnaturalized  aliens  in  the 
city's  working  force.  The  city  is  everywhere  a  large  em- 
ployer of  unskilled  labor  in  its  streets,  sewer,  water,  and 
public-works  departments.  The  daily  pay  is  good,  and  tie 
newcomer  chafes  under  the  regulations  which  prevent  him 
from  getting  a  place  on  the  mimicipal  pay-roll.  He  wants 
to  become  a  citizen  as  soon  as  he  can,  not  in  order  that  he 
may  get  the  franchise  for  its  own  sake,  but  that  he  may  be 
eligible  for  employment  in  public  undertakings.  He  finds, 
moreover,  that  local  politicians  develop  a  much  greater 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  those  among  his  compatriots 
who  have  become  naturalized  and  have  acquired  the  right 
to  vote.  Very  naturally  he  comes  to  regard  citizenship  as 
something  which  has  economic  as  well  as  political  utility. 
The  pressure  put  upon  him  becomes  correspondingly  great, 
and  the  temptation  to  apply  for  citizenship  before  he  has 


TBI  MX7NICIPAL  KLKCTORATI 


111 


fulfilled  all  the  requiiemente  has  too  often  proved  imnst- 
ible,  especially  when  the  way  to  fraud  has  been  smoothed  by 
assurances  from  some  ward  politician.* 

In  addition  to  citisenship,  a  certain  lnin{fw^^^n  of  local  s. 
residence  is  invariably  required.  The  term  varies  in  length  ^ 
from  state  to  state,  the  requirement  providing  for  a  cer- 
tain period  of  residence  within  the  state  and  a  shorter  one 
within  the  city.  In  Maasachusettt  the  law  demands  a 
year's  domicil  in  the  state  and  six  months  in  the  city; 
in  Pennsylvania,  a  year  in  the  state  and  two  months  in  the 
city;  in  Michigan,  six  months  in  the  state,  with  no  definite 
term  of  residence  in  the  city.'  It  should  be  understood, 
however,  that  the  requirement  refers  to  legal  residence, 
which  is  not  the  same  thing  as  actual  habitation.  Ordi- 
xiarily  the  two  are  the  same;  but  it  is  quite  possible  for 
a  man  to  live  in  one  state  or  community  and  still  have  his 
legal  residence  in  another.  It  is  commonly  remarked  that  Th« 
a  man's  legal  residence  is  where  he  says  it  is,  provided,  of  S*^ 
course,  that  he  does  not  claim  legal  residence  in  more  than 
one  jurisdiction  at  the  same  time.  What  constitutes  resi- 
dence for  purposes  of  fulfilling  the  suffrage  requirements  is 
a  matter  for  the  laws  and  the  judicial  decisions  of  each  state 
to  decide ;  but  in  the  main  the  animus  manendi  —  in  other 
words,  the  individual's  own  intent  to  be  domiciled  in  a 
particular  jurisdiction  —  is  the  determining  factor. 

The   question   is   badly   complicated,  however,  by  the 

*  "I  wu  tong  ago  taken  to  w»teh  the  loooeM  (rf  oitizen-makiiig  in  New 
York.  Drovea  of  aqiulid  men,  who  looked  u  if  they  had  just  emerged 
from  an  emigrant  ship,  and  had  perfaap*  done  w  only  a  few  weeks  brfore, 
for  the  law  prescribing  a  oortain  term  of  residenoe  is  frequenUy  violated, 
were  brought  up  to  a  magistrate  by  the  ward  agent  of  the  party  which 
had  captured  them,  declared  their  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and 
WOTe  forthwith  jdaoed  on  the  roll."  —  Jaus  Bbtcx,  Ameriean  Common' 
wealth  (2  vols..  New  York,  1910),  II.  103. 

*  The  exact  requirements  in  the  various  states,  revised  annually,  may 
be  found  in  the  Statuman'i  .  -or  Book,  or  in  the  World  Almanac 


m 


112 


li 


li'ii 


LicidNii- 

dWMMMi 


4.  Eduea- 


quaUfie»- 
tiona. 


OOVKRNMKNT  OF  AMIRIOAN  dTm 


common  American  practice  of  permitting  a  man's    legal 
residence  to  determine  where  he  shall  be  assessed  for  per- 
sonal property,  income,  and  poll-taxes.    In  fact,  the  choice 
of  a  legal  residence  —  for  in  many  oases  it  has  become  a 
matter  of  individual  discretion  —  is  very  often  determined  by 
a  person's  desire  to  be  assessed  in  one  state  or  municipality 
rather  than  another,  a  desire  not  always  wholly  unconnected 
with  the  severity  or  leniency  of  the  local  assessors.    In 
the  last  resort,  the  question  of  a  man's  legal  residence  is  a 
matter  for  judicial  decision,  and  must  be  determined  from  the 
facts  in  each  particular  case;  but  as  a  matter  of  everyday 
practice  the  sworn  statement  of  the  individual  is  usually 
taken  as  conclusive  both  by  tax-assessors  and  by  registrars 
of  voters.*    Some  of  the  evils  to  which  this  divorce  of  legal 
from  physical  domicil  has  given  rise  are  mentioned  later; 
in  this  place  it  is  enough  merely  to  lay  stress  upon  the 
point  that  the  fiction  rather  than  the  fact  of  residence  is 
what  law  and  practice  often  exact. 

In  nearly  one-third  of  all  the  states  some  sort  of  educa- 
tional test  for  voting  is  established  by  law.  Connecticut, 
which  requires  that  every  one  enrolled  as  a  voter  shall  be 
able  to  read  the  state  constitution  or  statutes  in  the  Eng- 
lish language,  is  the  only  state  which  allows  no  exemptions 
whatever.  California,  Delaware,  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
Washington,  and  Wyoming  require  that  voters  shall  be  able 
either  to  read  or  to  write  or  to  do  both;  but  all  grant 
exemptions  of  one  sort  or  another.  These  exemptions, 
which  apply  mainly  to  persons  physically  incapacitated 
or  of  advanced  age,  are  not  designed  to  permit  racial  or 

» The  senml  prindples  foUowed  by  the  oottrU  in  determiniiw  whether 
or  not  a  penon  haa  "eatabliahed  a  legal  nwidenoe"  are  diaousMd  in  Wfl- 
lianw  V.  Whiting  (U  Mat.  424),  which  haa  become  a  leading  caM  upon 
the  point.  For  a  oomivehenaive  oondderation  (rf  the  Uw  and  ivaotioe. 
■ee  G.  W.  McCrary's  Trtatiu  on  the  American  Laut  of  Bleeti.  »  (4th  ed.. 
Chicago,  1897),  oh.  iv.  /  v  «.  ea., 


THE  MUNICIPAL  ILICTORATI 


118 


Other  diieriininatioiu,  but  merely  to  keep  the  strict  applica- 
tion of  the  tests  from  resulving  in  hardship.    Several  South- 
em  states,  on  the  other  hand,  while  prescribing  educational 
tests,  grant  exemptions  to  whole  classes  of  voters,  for  the 
express  purpose  of  excluding  colored  citizens  from  the 
franchise  privileges  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  fifteenth 
amendment  to  the  federal  constitution.*    Inasmuch  as  the 
percentage  of  illiterates  among  negroes  is  very  large,  the 
requirement  that  voters  shall  be  able  to  read  or  write  is  one 
which,  when  strictly  administered,  shuts  out  a  large  propor- 
tion of  them.    But  there  are  also  many  illiterate  white  Adainiatn- 
citisens  who  would  be  excluded  by  the  test;  and  for  their  Si>2k)iMa 
benefit  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  North  and  South  ^^  *^ 
Carolina,  and  Virginia  have  provided  means  whereby  the 
requirement  can  be  easily  circumvented  by  the  white  element 
of  the  population.    Various  devices  are  employed  to  this  end. 
In  one  case  the  provision  is  that  the  voter  must  either  read 
the    constitution    or    "give    a  reasonable   interpretation 
thereof,"  the  question  whether  the  interpretation  's  reason- 
able or  not  resting  «rith  the  white  officials  in  charge  of  the 
registration.'    In  another  state  the  so-termed  "grandfather 
clause"  relieves  from  the  necessity  of  passing  the  educational 
test  all  those  who  enjoyed  voting  rights  before  1867  and  all 
descendants  of  such  voters,  which  is  a  way  of  giving  complete 
exemption  to  all  native-bom  white  citizens.'    Still  another 
of  the  Southern  states  exempts  all  owners  of  property  who 
have  paid  the  taxes  assessed  for  the  year  preceding  enrol- 
mont.    As  the  percentage  of  property-owning  negroes  is 
small  in  all  the  Southern  cities,  and  the  proportion  of  those 
who  pay  their  taxes  on  time  even  smaller,  it  follows  that 

>0.  T.  Stephenwm'a  Race  Dittinetum$  in  American  Law  (New  ToA, 
1910)  contains  a  full  discussion  <rf  this  nutter. 
'  Clonstittttion  <rf  MisdadpiH.  1890.  art.  zii.  i  244. 
*  Constitution  of  Louisiana,  1898,  art.  oxevii.  U  ^S. 


■1 


mm 


'^  7  f  * 


0.  OWBOT. 
■Up  Of 

PKwrty. 


*•  Payment 
of  tans. 


114  OOVIRNMINT  OF  AMUUOAN  CTTIli 

not  many  illiterates  get  their  lumes  upon  the  roll,  by  th« 
itte  of  thi.  exemption.*  It  mjuirea  little  arsument,  accord- 
^^y,  to  prove  that  the  educational  teats  imposed  by  various 

voters  list,  of  Uliterates  as  to  permit  racial  discrimination, 
to  be  made  without  violating  the  letter  of  the  federal  consti- 
tution.  That  they  have  done  this  effectively  is  proved  by 
the  estimate,  based  upon  careful  study,  that  in  some  of  the 
Southern  states  not  more  than  one  adult  male  negro  out 
of  eveiy  hundred  votes,  even  at  presidential  elections.* 

Wo  state  of  the  Union  now  requires  either  the  ownenhip 
or  the  occupancy  of  property  as  a  condition  of  enrolment 
for  state  electiomi;  and  only  one  state,  Rhode  Ishmd. 
makes  any  such  requirement  for  voting  at  municipal  elee- 
tions.  In  Rhode  IsUnd  the  right  to  vote  for  city  coundUoM 
or  on  matter,  of  municipal  finance,  is  restricted  to  thosi 
who  own  property  to  the  assessed  value  c  $134,  or  who  pay 
a  rental  amounting  to  at  least  seven  dollaw  per  year.  In 
actual  operation  this  restriction  does  not  exclude  many  who 

Indeed,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  requirement,  how- 
ever  wise  it  may  have  been  when  established  in  1842,  serves 
any  useful  purpose  nowadays. 

Some  other  states  -  Pemisylvania  and  Temiessee,  for 
example -require  that  voters  shall  have  paid  their  poU  or 
state  taxes  before  being  em-oUed.  Others,  like  Mawachu- 
-etts,  require  only  that  no  names  be  put  on  the  list  save 
those  of  persons  who  have  been  assessed  for  poU-taxes. 

"  Constitution  of  South  Carolina.  IMLi  »f  !■•  t  ^  n  .  . 
euMion  of  thew  matten.  «e^  B  Sj^i^]"  ',  '  f^  */"*^  ^ 
Voter,  (Univerdty  of^lo^o  st d^I n  ^^S^-'^^Tf'^^  ^ 
of  tl.«  policy  purmied  by  the  SouthSTs'tate."  S'p^o  ^i,  '  '  *^^~~ 
."Suffrage  Limitations  at  the  fenth^in  d  A.^,  o  "  ^*'f«y  "  "tide  on 
1-16  (March.  SS  "^  ^'^*  QuarUrly,  XX. 

I.  »  oSv^fi^  '"*-*•"  ^  ^--^''  ^oiUic^  Science  He^, 


TBI  MUMiaPAL  ILIOTORATI 


m 


Whtn  the  rale  that  poU-t«XM  muat  be  paid  is  rigidly  enforced, 
the  p8}rment  of  them  for  delinquents  virtually  becomes  a 
charge  upon  the  campaign  funds  of  the  political  parties. 
The  number  of  voters  who  will  leave  their  poll-taxes  unpaid 
in  the  expectation  that  party  agents  will  provide  the  money 
on  the  eve  of  the  election  is  lai^;er  in  every  community  than 
popular  professions  of  civic  patriotism  would  lead  one  to 
suppose.  To  provide  that  a  voter  must  be  assessed  for 
poll-taxes  is  quite  different  from  providing  that  he  must 
have  paid  them.  Hie  former  requirement  shuts  out  nobody ; 
the  btter,  were  it  not  for  the  readiness  of  party  leaders  to 
pay  delinquent  taxes,  would  exclude  a  considenble  propop* 
tion  of  the  presrat  dectors.  In  Boston  not  more  than  fifty 
per  cent  of  those  assessed  for  poll-taxes  ever  pay  them. 
Indeed,  if  we  leave  out  of  account  those  whose  poU-taxea 
are  put  on  thdr  property-tax  bills,  and  who  therefore  cannot 
evade  payment,  we  find  that  in  Boston  not  more  than  t«i 
per  cent  of  assessed  polls  are  ever  collected.  The  experience 
of  other  cities  is  doubtless  the  same.  Of  all  species  of  tax- 
dodging  this  is  the  most  prevalent  and  the  least  defoisible. 

In  evny  state  thoe  are  certain  disqualifications  from 
voting;  but  within  every  category  of  the  ineligible  are 
included  persons  convicted  of  treason  or  other  felonies,  and 
those  who  are  insane  or  under  guardianship.  In  a  few  states 
the  exclusion  extends  to  all  persons  in  receipt  of  public 
poor-relief,  and  to  United  States  soldiers  and  sailors. 
New  York  has  provided  by  special  statute  that  the  dis- 
qualification shall  not  extend  to  convicts  in  the  House  of 
Refuge  or  the  State  Reformatory.  A  few  states  also  pro- 
vide for  the  disfranchisement  of  persons  who  have  been 
convicted  of  bribery  at  elections.  Even  when  rigidly 
enforced,  these  various  disqualifications  do  not  occlude 
many  who  wcrald  otherwise  be  entitled  to  vote. 

The  methods  of  compiling  and  revising  the  voters'  lists 


116 


QOVBRNMBNT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Methods  of 
oompiling 
and  reviaing 
votan'liata. 


Dereeteof 
tile  ezuting 
•yitem. 


Thewoi^ 
ofiegiatnua. 


are  not  radicaUy  different  in  the  various  American  cities. 
When  the  right  to  vote  is  whoUy  divorced  from  tax-paying, 
it  becomes  impossible  to  use  anything  akin  to  the  English 
and  Geman  methods  of  compihng  the  voters'  lists  from  the 
tax-rolls.     Manhood  suffrage  necessitates  some  system  of 
special  registration  of  voters.    In  Massachusetts  a  voter's 
name  is  put  upon  the  rolls  by  the  assessore,  without  any 
initiative  on  his  part.    During  the  first  week  of  April  m 
each  year  the  municipal  assessors  proceed  to  make  up  their 
Usts  of  taxable  property.    On  these  lists  they  enter  the  names 
not  only  of  all  persons  who  have  real  or  personal  property 
subject  to  taxation,  but  also  the  names  of  those  who  are 
Uable  to  the  payment  of  poU-taxes.    The  names  in  this  hitter 
category  are  supposed  to  be  obtained  by  house-to-house  work 
on  the  part  of  the  assessors  or  their  assistants.    When  the 
assessors  turn  in  their  rolls,  the  voters'  lists  are  compUed 
from  them. 

As  a  system  of  enrolling  voters  this  procedure  has  proved 

far  from  satisfactory.    Since  the  assessors  are  usuaUy  men 

who  have  been  appointed  to  their  posts  for  poUtical  reasons, 

they  naturaUy  show  more  zeal  than  fairness  in  their  work] 

sometimes,  it  is  to  be  feared,  taking  pains  to  put  on  the  list 

the  names  of  their  feUow-partisans  and  to  leave  off  those  of 

their  poUtical  opponents.    The  work  is  done  so  carelessly 

that  the  lists  are  usuaUy  proUfic  in  errors  and  much  revision 

of  them  becomes  necessary.    Because  of  these  shortcomings 

the  task  of  enroUing  voters  has  in  Boston  been  taken  from 

the  assessors  and  given  to  the  poUce.    During  the  first  week 

in  April  members  of  the  poHce  force  visit  every  house  in 

the  city  and  obtain  the  names  of  aU  qualified  voters;  and 

the  lists  which  these  officers  turn  in  are  made  the  basis  of 

the  electoral  rolls. 

No  matter  how  well  this  preUminary  work  of  enrohnent 
of  voters  may  be  done  by  the  assessors  or  the  poUce  or  any 


THE  MUNICIPAL  BLBCTORATB 


117 


other  set  of  o£Eicera,  a  good  deal  of  revision  is  necessary. 
Some  voters  will  be  overiooked;  others  will  be  put  on  the 
lists  who  ought  not  to  be  there.  In  every  Massachusetts  city, 
thc^fore,  there  is  a  revising  body,  or  board  of  registrars,  who 
hav3  this  task  of  revision  in  charge.  Such  a  board  is  made 
up  of  three  or  more  members  appointed  by  the  mayor, 
t,sibject  to  the  usual  rules  governing  the  confinnation  of  the 
mayor's  appointments.  For  many  years  it  has  been  required 
by  law  that  both  political  parties  shall  be  represented  on  it, 
the  principle  of  bi-partisanship  receiving  wider  recognition 
in  the  composition  of  this  board  than  in  that  of  any  other 
municipal  body,  for  the  reason  that  the  duties  of  registrars 
are  regarded  as  unavoidably  political  in  nature.  Registrais 
are  usually  appointed  for  terms  of  three  years,  and  one  or 
more  of  them  retire  annually.  In  most  cases  they  are  paid, 
by  annual  salary  in  the  larger  cities  and  by  a  per  diem  allow- 
ance in  toe  smaller. 

In  most  of  the  states  other  than  Massachusetts  a  different  The  aw. 
plan  is  pursued.  The  lists  are  not  compiled  from  the  asses-  ^^^,g^ 
sors'  rolls  but  are  made  up  entirely  by  the  r^;istrar8.  These 
registrars,  who  are  appointed  in  different  wayti  (in  New  York 
by  the  mayor,  in  PhiUdelphia  by  the  governor,  and  in  Chi- 
cago by  the  coimty  judge),  hold  sessions  a  short  time  before 
each  election.  The  applicant  for  enrolment  appearing  be- 
fore the  board,  is  put  under  oath,  and  is  then  que^ioned 
concerning  his  age,  his  citiienship,  and  his  length  of  resi- 
dence in  the  state  and  the  city ;  if  there  is  an  educational 
test  for  voting,  he  is  also  subjected  to  this ;  if  he  is  under 
the  law  which  requires  voters  to  have  been  assessed  for 
poll-taxes,  he  musn;  present  evidence  of  such  assessment. 
All  these  statements  are  recoraed  by  the  registrars,  who 
then  either  give  or  refuse  to  the  applicant  a  place  on  the 
voters'  Ust  as  a  majority  of  them  may  decide.  In  New 
York  the  registrars  enter  upon  their  books  a  description 


I  I  ( 


Bonaatod 
impioTe- 


118  GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 

of  the  voter's  personal  appearance,  in  order  that  he 
may  be  identified  in  case  another  man  should  attempt  fo 
vote  in  his  name.  If  the  board  were  to  scrutinize  care- 
fuUy  the  statements  of  every  appUcant  for  enrohnent,  and 
were  to  verify  the  alleged  residence  of  each  one  by  send- 
mg  an  officer  on  a  personal  visic  to  the  address  given, 
the  results  obtained  would  of  course  be  more  satisfactory. 
As  there  is  neither  time  noi  appropriation  for  aU  this, 
however,  the  lists  invariably  contain  names  which  ought 
not  to  be  upon  them ;  and  instances  of  "colonization"— that 
is,  of  the  enrohnent  of  voters  from  fictitious  residences  — 
are  not  at  all  rare,  although  they  are  not  so  common  as 
they  we-e  a  decade  ago. 

There  seems  still  to  be  much  room  for  improvement  in 
the  machinery  usuaUy  provided  for  the  enrohnent  of  voters 
in  American  cities.    In  some  states  the  list  is  made  up  anew 
each  year,  and  it  becomes  necessary  for  every  voter  to  appear 
annually  before  the  board  of  registrars.    This  is  something 
of  a  burden,  and  often  results  in  the  disfranchisement  of 
many  who  forget  to  have  their  enrohnent  renewed.    In  a 
few  states,   as  in  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania,  the 
practice  is  to  keep  a  voter's  name  upon  the  list  so  long  as  he 
remams  assessed  for  poU  or  other  taxes,  thus  obviating  the 
necessity  of  his  making  a  new  registration  each  year.    This 
plan  seems,  on  the  whole,  to  be  the  more  satisfactory  of 
the  two,  although  in  aU  large  cities,   owing  to  frequent 
^s  m  the  residences  of  voters,  a  great  many  changes  in 
the  hsts  become  necessaiy  from  year  to  year.    If  boards  of 
registration,  moreover,  were  suppUed  with  such  clerical  as- 
sistance as  would  enable  them  to  take  the  same  care  which 
banks,  trust  companies,  and  other  private  oi^anisations 
exercise  m  safeguarding  themselves  against  imposture,  the 
votmg-lists  could  be  purged  of  perennial  frauds.    When  hsts 
are  padded  with  fraudulent  names,  it  is  not  usually  because 


THS  MUNICIPAL  ELECTORATE 


119 


the  r^istrare  have  been  privy  to  political  malpractice  or 
have  connived  at  the  trickery  of  ward  politicians;  it  is 
almost  always  because  they  have  too  much  work  to  do 
properly.  So  many  voters  have  to  be  enrolled  in  a  few 
days  that  only  the  most  perfunctory  scrutiny  of  appli- 
cants is  within  the  bounds  of  physical  possibility. 

In  some  states  matters  are  made  worse  by  the  practice 
of  permitting  those  whose  names  are  not  on  the  voters'  lists 
to  "swear  in"  their  votes  on  election  day,  in  other  words  to 
make  oath  at  the  poll  that  they  are  duly  qualified  voters. 
Such  persons  are  aUowed  to  vote  forthwith  although  there 
is  obviously  no  way  of  verifying  the  sworn  statements  which 
they  have  made. 

Whether  the  i- evailing  tone  of  presentrday  municipal  Theei«-. 
poUtics  might  not  be  further  improved  by  the  imposition  ^^2!^^ 
of  more  rigid  qualifications  for  voting  is  a  fair,  if  a  difficult, 
question.  The  requirement  that  voters  shall  be  able  to 
read  and  write  can  scarcely  be  called  illogical  or  unjust  in 
states  which  maintain  at  the  public  expense  systems  of 
universal  and  compulsory'  education.  The  census  of  1900 
showed  that  there  were  in  the  United  States  neariy  two  and 
a  half  million  illiterate  men  of  voting  age,  or  about  eleven 
per  cent  of  the  total  adult  male  population.  A  considerable 
proportion  of  this  illiterate  element  is  concentrated  in  the 
negro  population  of  the  Southern  states ;  but  even  in  North- 
em  cities  the  percentage  of  those  who  cannot  read  and  write 
is  too  large  to  be  disregarded.  In  the  state  of  New  York, 
for  example,  in  cities  of  over  26,000  population,  about  six 
per  cent  of  the  adult  male  population  was  designated  as 
iUiterate;  in  the  cities  of  New  Hampshire  the  figure  was 
above  ten  per  cent.*    The  ratio  of  iUiteracy  is  large  in  the 

« C,  W.  Dabney,  ."The  nUtenusy  of  tlw  Votin»  PbpaktioD  In  tlw 
Edueatton,  1902,  pp.  780-818. 


120 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Thededr^ 
Ability  of 
exdudins 
iUitentaa. 


cities  because  of  the  foreign  elements  massed  there.  Now, 
it  is  a  commonplace  of  practical  politics  that  the  voter  who  is 
unable  to  read  his  ballot  becomes  an  easy  prey  to  political 
manipulators.  His  only  alternatives  are,  as  a  rule,  either 
to  vote  a  straight  ticket  or  to  spoil  his  ballot.  It  may  well 
be  asked,  then,  whether  a  policy  of  political  prudence  should 
permit  one  vote  in  every  ten  to  be  cast  by  persons  who  have 
only  such  alternatives.  Men  can  contribute  to  the  success 
of  free  government  only  by  using  the  ballot  with  inteUigence 
and  reasonable  independence ;  and  this  they  can  hardly  do 
if  the  ordinary  avenues  of  information,  including  the  news- 
papers, are  closed  to  them.  Mr.  Tweed,  in  the  heyday  of 
his  domination,  declared  that  he  paid  no  heed  to  what 
the  newspapers  said  about  him,  as  most  of  his  followers 
"couldn't  read  English."  Nor  is  he  the  only  political  boss 
who  has  owed  his  power,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  fact  that 
the  illiterate  element  in  the  electorate  forms  an  unmeltable 
mass  in  the  crucible  of  public  opinion. 

Apart  from  the  direct  effect  upon  municipal  politics,  the 
requirement  that  men  should  be  able  to  read  and  write 
before  securing  the  franchise  would  promote  the  cause  of 
elementary  education  in  the  humbler  walks  of  city  life. 
Grown  persons  who  remain  illiterate  furnish  more  than 
their  due  proportion  of  public  charges;  they  contribute 
far  more  than  their  quota  to  the  pauper  and  criminal  classes 
of  the  community.  As  a  measure  of  social  amelioration, 
therefore,  every  agency  that  can  be  used  to  diminish  the 
illiterate  element  in  the  population  of  the  large  city  has  a 
good  deal  to  commend  it.  The  assimilation  of  the  foreigner 
would,  moreover,  doubtless  be  accelerated  by  such  require- 
ment ;  for  education  is  a  potent  agent  of  social  fusion,  even 
though  it  be  carried  to  only  an  elementary  stage.  Taking 
all  these  considerations  into  account,  therefore,  there  is 
rpason  to  believe  that  the  policy  of  peraxitting  enrohnent  to 


THB  MUNICIPAL  BLBCTORATB  121 

those  only  who  can  read  and  write  might  profitably  be 
extended  to  the  states  that  have  not  yet  adopted  it. 

^ws  requiring  that  no  one  shall  vote  unless  he  has  paid  his 
t«M  for  the  year  are  also  sound  in  motive,  although  some- 
what  dafficult  of  strict  enforcement.    Men  who  do  not  fulfil 
their  duties  to  the  community  ought  not  to  have  the  corre- 
sponding rights.    Yet  a  system  which  uses  the  suffrage  as  a 
means  of  collecting  taxes  -  that  is,  as  a  means  of  doing  what 
the  city  s  coUectmg  department  ought  to  do,  but  does  not- 
tends  to  put  an  unfair  burden  upon  the  electoral  machinery. 
I^e  city  ought  to  coUect  its  poU-taxes  in  the  same  way  in 
which  It  enforces  its  other  monetaiy  claims  against  citizens. 
The  courts  are  open  to  it  for  this  purpose.    Why  they  are 
seldom  resorted  to  is  not  so  much  because  their  procedure 
w  too  slow  or  too  cumbrous  or  too  expensive.    It  is  simply 
because  the  municipal  authorities  who  attempt  to  coUect 
poU-taxes  by  legal  compulsion  create  too  much  antagonism 
among  voters  who  are  in  arrears,  and  thereby  impair  their 
own  chances  of  reflection  or  political  advancement.    Hence 
It  18  that  krge  cities  either  write  large  sums  off  their  books 
each  year,  or  tiy  to  put  the  odium  of  collecting  poll-taxes 
upon  some  self-executoiy  statute.    Since  it  costs  a  great 
deal  to  provide  ballots,  voting-places,  polling^fficeis,  and 
aU  the  paraphernalia  of  an  election,  it  seems  absurd  that 
thousand^  of  voters  should  be  permitted  to  evade  payment 
of  an  individual  charge  which  does  Uttle  more  than  defray 
this  outlay.  ^ 

Improvements  might  also  be  made  in  the  relation  that 
exists  between  a  man's  voting  rights  and  his  pUce  of 
residence.  In  England  the  municipal  electorate  is  built 
upon  the  idea  that  occupancy  as  well  as  residence  gives  a  man 
the  nght  to  a  voice  in  local  affairs ;  when  a  citizen  owns  or 
occupies  an  office  or  a  store  or  a  warehouse,  he  becomes, 
as  It  were,  a  civic  stockholder,  even  though  he  may,  within 


fotOBBMBt 

of  thatu 
Mqrir 


Bttttuility 
in  theintath 
praUtfen 
ofl<«ri. 


Mqilil*. 


122 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


llfil 


Wi 


^M 


\  i 


The  ex- 
tension of 
sufFrage 
rii^t*  to 


certain  limits,   actually  reside  outside  the   municipality. 
The  English  city  accordingly  retains  upon  its  list  of  voters 
that  large  quota  of  men  whose  business  interests  are  within 
the  municipal  limits,  but  who  may  actually  reside  in  some 
suburban  towns  near  by.    American  cities,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  gone  on  the  principle  that  a  citizen's  real  interest 
can  only  be  in  that  municipality  in  which,  actually  or  con- 
structively, he  makes  his  home.    Thus,  the  man  who  owns 
a  factory  in  Boston  and  occupies  a  rented  apartment  in 
Brookline  is  presumed  by  the  law  to  have  his  real  interest 
where  common  sense  asserts  that  it  is  not.    Every  large 
American  city  therefore  loses  from  its  electorate  an  element 
which  it  would  be  most  desirable  to  retain, — namely,  those 
who  spend  their  day-hours  within  the  municipal  limits  and 
have  their  chief  economic  interests  there,  but  who  happen 
to  live  in  residential  districts  outside.    To  keep  this  element 
on  the  city  lists  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  give  any  man 
more  than  a  single  vote.    The  practice  in  vogue  in  the 
cities  of  the  French  republic,  which  allows  a  voter  to  choose 
whether  he  shall  be  enrolled  from  his  place  of  business  or 
from  his  residence  (but  not  from  both),  would  be  practicable 
in  America.    Adequate  safeguards  would  of  course  be  neces- 
sary to  prevent  duplication  of  enrolment  and  other  evils; 
but  difficulties  in  that  direction  would  hardly  prove  insu- 
perable, and  the   advantages  to  the  cause  of  better  city 
government  would  surely  be  important.    In  America  too 
much  emphasis  is  put  upon  "legal  residence"  as  a  factor  in 
the  suffrage  laws,  and  this  undue  emphasis  serves  to  deprive 
the  voters'     its  of  what  ought,  in  large  cities,  to  be  their 
most  depend..  )le  element. 

In  various  parts  of  the  United  States  a  belief  is  apparently 
growing  that  the  plane  of  the  municipal  electorate  can  be 
greatly  raised  by  the  extension  of  votmg  rights  to  women. 
Whether  or  not  this  proposal  ofifers  more  in  the  way  of  im- 


«M 


IMM 


THE  MUNICIPAL  BLECTORATB 


123 


provement  than  do  the  others  mentioned  in  these  pages,  it  is 
at  any  rate  exciting  much  more  public  interest  and  discus- 
sion.* Although  the  American  idea  of  a  democratic  elector- 
ate does  not  necessarily  include  women,  nevertheless  the  ex- 
tension of  the  suffrage  to  them  is  one  of  the  things  which,  in 
course  of  time,  is  liable  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  pronounced 
democratic  tendencies.  When  people  believe  that  the  proper 
remedy  for  the  ills  of  democracy  is  more  democracy,  the 
suffrage  is  more  likely  to  be  widened  than  to  be  narrowed. 
In  seven  states  of  the  Union  the  right  to  vote  at  municipal 
elections  has  already  been  granted  to  women,  and  in  some 
of  them  women's  suffrage  has  been  in  existence  long  enough 
to  have  passed  the  experimental  stage.  As  to  the  influence 
which  female  participation  in  municipal  politics  has  had  upon 
city  administration  in  these  states  there  is  some  difference 
of  opinion ;  it  has  at  any  rate  not  proved  radical  in  its  re- 
sults either  for  good  or  for  ill.  So  far  as  American  political 
experience  goes,  it  has  been  found  that  women  rise  to  their 
public  responsibilities  no  better,  and  perhaps  no  worse, 
than  men  do.  Political  opinion  in  states  which  have 
adopted  the  wider  suffrage  seems  to  be  moulded  by  the 
same  factors  and  influenced  by  the  same  considerations 
as  is  public  sentiment  in  communities  which  hold  fast  to 
the  policy  of  manhood  suffrage. 

Much  effort  in  the  cause  of  imprced  municipal  adminis-  Sdction  of 
tration  has  been  rendered  ineffective  through  its  failure  to  «teto 
strike  at  the  fimdamentals  of  misgovemment.    As  a  stream  '*'o*™* 
will  rise  no  higher  than  its  source,  so  will  a  representative 
government  do  no  more  than  reflect  the  ideals  of  the  elector- 
ate which  chooses  it  and  maintains  it  in  office.    An  elector- 


'  Most  of  the  arKoments  for  and  against  this  extension  of  the  suffrage 
may  be  oonveniently  found  in  the  little  volume  entitled  Sdeeted  ArtielM 
on  Woman  Suffrage,  in  the  Debaters'  Handbook  Series  (Minneapolis, 
1911). 


JttiiiiiiMlii 


124 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


ate  made  up  even  in  part  of  persons  fraudulently  naturalized, 
or  enrolled  by  fraudulent  means,  or  voting  from  fictitious 
places  of  residence,  or  illiterate,  or  whose  civic  conscience  is 
so  numb  as  to  tolerate  evasion  of  just  dut  >,  —  an  electorate 
made  up  even  in  part  of  such  elements  needs  attention 
from  the  reorganizers  of  municipal  machinery  before  much 
thoroughgoing  improvement  can  be  hoped  for  in  the  work 
of  popular  representatives. 


IfainmBNcu 

Ctonerml  question!  rdating  to  the  niffrace  (Apart  from  the  ipeoial  ques- 
tion of  negro  luffrace)  have  had  very  little  sttention  from  American 
writen.  Intnreitinc  dieouniona  <rf  the  rig^t  to  vote,  in  its  wider  aspects, 
may  be  found  in  W.  E.  H.  Leolcy's  Democracy  and  Liberty  (2  vols.,  Lon- 
don, i^90),  I.  2-38,  70-100,  and  Sir  Henry  8.  Maine's  Popular  Government 
(London,  1885),  chs.  i.-ii.  There  is  a  somewhat  ramUing  discourse  on  the 
relation  of  universal  suffrage  to  popular  government  in  Tocqueville's 
Democracy  in  America  (ed.  D.  C.  Oihnan,  2  vols..  New  York,  1898),  I. 
eh.  xiii.  The  best  short  outline  of  the  development  from  strict  to  liberal 
suffrage  requirements  in  the  United  States  is  F.  W.  Blaokmar's  article 
on  "The  History  of  Suffrage,"  in  the  Chatauqwan,  XXII.  28-34  (October, 
1895).  The  relation  of  the  suffrage  system  to  {Hresent-day  municipal 
problems  is  dealt  with  somewhat  briefly  by  Professor  F.  J.  Goodnow, 
Municipal  Prohlenu  (New  York,  1904),  ch.  vil,  and  by  D.  F.  \rilcox, 
American  City  (New  York,  1904),  chs.  i.,  ix.  A  well-written  article  by 
O.  H.  Haynes  on  "Educational  Qualifloations"  may  be  found  in  the 
Political  Science  Quarterly,  XIII.  495-531 ;  and  attention  may  also  be 
called  to  the  paper  on  "Educational  Qualifications  of  Voters"  by  J.  B. 
Phillips,  in  Univertity  /  Colorado  Studies,  III.  55-62.  Arguments  for 
and  against  restrictions  upon  universal  suffrage  were  given  at  length 
many  years  ago  in  the  report  ot  a  commission  appointed  by  the  governor  of 
New  York ' '  to  devise  a  plan  for  the  government  of  cities  " ;  and  in  the  chapter 
entitled  "The  Voting  Many  versus  the  Taxpaying  Few,"  in  A.  P.  Wflder's 
Municipal  Problemt  (New  Haven,  1891).  Other  sources  of  information 
are  by  C.  W.  Eliot,  American  ContribiOion*  to  Civilitation  (New  York, 
1897),  ch.  i.;  H.  C.  Adams,  Public  DebU  (New  York,  1898),  359-368; 
J.  8.  Mill,  RepreeenttUive  Government  (London,  1894),  ch.  viii. ;  and  D.  C. 
McMillan,  The  Elective  Franchise  in  the  United  States  (New  York,  1898). 
passim.  Further  references,  chiefly  to  magazine  articles  on  the  subject, 
may  be  found  in  R.  C.  Ringwalt's  Briefs  on  Public  Questions  (New  York, 
1911),  ch.  iv.,  and  in  W.  D.  B.  Brookings  and  R.  C.  Ringwalt's  Briefs 
for  DebaU  (New  York,  1911).  oh.  v. 


mmm 


flMMi 


CHAPTER  VI 

MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  ELECTIONS 

The  influence  of  the  electorate,  or  whole  body  of  the 
voters,  is  exerted  upon  the  administration  of  the  city  in  two 
wajrs,  directly  and  indirectly.  It  is  exerted  directly  by  the 
use  of  the  initiative,  referendum,  and  recall ;  it  is  exerted 
indirectly  in  the  nomination  and  election  of  city  officials. 
Both  directly  and  indirectly  this  electoral  infi  snce  has 
become  more  active  in  recent  yean,  but  this  is  more 
particularly  true  of  the  direct  control  which  the  voters 
exercise  over  the  conduct  of  the  city's  business.  The 
increase  in  the  direct  control  of  municipal  matters  by  the 
whole  body  of  the  voters  has,  indeed,  been  an  outstanding 
feature  in  American  political  development  during  the  last 
decade.    Its  significance  is  dealt  with  in  a  later  chapter.^ 

In  general,  however,  the  government  of  the  average 
American  city  continues  to  exemplify  a  type  of  representa- 
tive rather  than  of  direct  democracy ;  in  other  words,  popular 
control  of  local  affairs  is  maintained  through  the  nomination 
and  election  of  those  to  whom  the  immediate  management 
of  administration  is  intrusted.  It  is  not  so  long,  of  course, 
since  the  whole  body  of  voters  took  no  direct  part  in  mak- 
ing municipal  nominations;  this  function  used  to  be  per- 
formed by  a  very  small  section  of  the  electorate,  which 
claimed  to  represent  the  entire  body  but  rarely  did  so  in 
fact.  Nowada}rs,  however,  the  voters  take  upon  them- 
selves both  the  nominating  and  the  electing  of  officers,  and 

*  Bdow,  oh.  liiL 
125 


Tha 
eleetoMte 

inMtiOB. 


Dinetand 
indireot 
popular 
control  of 
city  goT- 
emnMDt. 


nam 


tmamamt 


ill 


ffiitorjrof 

nominatiag 
BMthoda. 


JtUworthe 
oonvMition* 


126 


OOVERNMBNT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


this  development  from  the  old  cauotis  to  the  open  primary 
affords  one  of  the  best  illustrations  of  that  general  popu- 
larizing of  electoral  machinery  which  has  been  taking  place 
during  recent  years. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  American  municipal  development 
the  laws  provided  no  nominating  machinery.  Candidates 
for  office  were  brought  forward  by  a  few  friends,  or  they 
came  forward  of  their  own  initiative.  Sometimes  an 
informal  meeting  of  a  few  representative  citizens  was  per- 
mitted to  decide  what  namef  should  be  put  before  the 
voters.  So  long  as  the  cities  remained  small  in  population 
and  with  few  elective  officers,  and  so  long  as  restrictions 
upon  the  suffrage  kept  the  voting  element  still  smaller, 
these  informal  methods  of  nomination,  in  which  the  mass  of 
the  electorate  had  no  share,  seem  to  have  been  readily 
tolerated;  and  they  continued  in  existence  through  the 
first  three  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century.*  The  change 
from  informal  to  formal  methods  of  nominating  candidates 
for  municipal  offices  was  one  of  the  many  shifts  in  the  whole 
American  electoral  system  which  came  in  the  wake  of  the 
Jacksonian  propaganda.  Largely  through  the  onslaught 
made  upon  it  by  Andrew  Jackson,  the  congressional  caucus 
as  a  means  of  nominating  candidates  for  the  presidency 
was  definitely  superseded  in  1840  by  the  national  party  con- 
vention, made  up  of  delegates  from  the  various  states.  So 
also,  but  rath^  earlier,  the  legislative  caucus  as  a  means 
of  nominating  candidates  for  state  offices  gave  way  to  the 
state  party  convention ;  and,  as  part  of  the  same  movement, 
the  local  party  convention,  made  up  of  delegates  chosen  by 
a  caucus  of  voters  in  each  ward,  was  established  as  the 

>  For  a  full  disouBsioii  of  this  topio.  aee  O.  D.  Luetaefaer,  Emiy  PolU- 
icol  Machinery  in  the  United  States  (Philadelphia,  1903),  and  M.  Ostro- 
gorski,  on  "The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Nominatinc  Caucus,"  in  American 
UiHorieal  Review,  V.  259-283  (January,  1900). 


\ 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  BLBCTIONS       127 

ordinary  method  of  nominating  oandl'Jates  for  municipal 
offices.* 

The  new  •3rstem  began  its  career  in  municipal  hbtory  Atmmai 
under  serious  handicaps.  Its  adoption  came  at  a  time  when  ^r*^"*^ 
cities,  owing  to  the  rising  tide  of  immigration,  were  begin- 
ning to  grow  rapidly.  This  growth  gave  impetus  to  the 
creation  of  new  public  services,  such  as  street  pavements, 
public  buildings,  water  and  sewerage  systems.  The  new 
services  enlarged  the  patronage  of  the  city  authorities, 
both  by  necessitating  the  creation  of  new  administrative 
offices  and  by  increasing  the  annual  expenditure  for  public 
work  and  materials.  The  spoils  increased  proportionally; 
imtil,  in  an  age  when  partisan  victors  were  regarded  as 
fairly  entitled  to  the  emoluments  of  office  and  the  profits 
of  patronage,  the  incentives  to  party  victory  were  very 
great.  Large  prizes  often  hinged  upon  the  issue  of  attempts 
to  capture  the  nominating  convention,  with  the  result 
that  almost  every  imaginable  form  of  trickery  and  fraud 
was  resorted  to  by  political  leaders.  The  rules  governing 
ward  caucuses  and  party  conventions  as  to  the  manner  of 
calling  them  together,  the  times  and  places  of  meeting,  and 
the  general  procedure  were  not  prescribed  by  la*",  but  were 
made  and  unmade  by  the  caucuses  and  conventions  them- 
selves. There  were  therefore  no  real  securities  for  fair 
play;  and  that  faction  of  the  party  which  could,  by  any 
manner  of  fraud  or  violence,  once  get  control  of  a  caucus  or 
a  convention  was  almost  certain  to  put  through  its  slate  of 
candidates.  Caucuses  were  often  called  upon  inadequate 
notice,  in  rooms  too  small  to  hold  any  but  those  who  were 
warned  to  come  early ;  the  meetings  were  not  uncommonly 
packed  with  political  thugs  from  outside  the  ward;  the 
ballot-box  was  frequently  stuffed,  or,  when  the  end  was  not 

*  M.  Ostngonki,  Democracy  attd  the  Partu  5y«tem  (New  Tork,  1910), 
oh».  ii.-Jv. 


HMttilllHiil 


138 


OOVIRKMINT  OF  AMERICAN  CITII8 


The 

regulktioii 
of  coDven- 
tiona  by 
Uw. 


I, 


lli 


achieved  by  aome  such  method,  the  count  of  ballots  was 
falsified.  Any  one  of  a  hundred  ingenious  devices  was  em> 
ployed  to  serve  the  ends  of  an  unscrupulous  faction.'  Yet 
the  political  alignment  in  many  cities  was  such  that  the 
faction  which  captured  the  caucuses,  and  through  them  the 
nominating  convention,  thereby  put  upon  the  ballot  candi- 

ites  who  were  practically  certain  to  be  elected.  It  gradu- 
ally dawned  upon  the  public  mind,  therefore,  that  under 
such  a  S3r8tem  representative  government  was  a  travesty, 
that  the  voters  of  the  city  were  allowed  to  do  no  more  at 
the  polls  than  choose  between  two  sets  of  professional 
politicians,  each  tagged  with  a  party  label  that  had  been 
gained,  in  many  cases,  by  resort  to  violence  or  subterfuge. 
With  ua  adequate  realisation  of  this  state  of  things  there 
began  a  popular  movement  for  the  regulation  of  party 
nominations  by  law. 

The  first  attempt  to  furnish  legal  securities  for  fair  play 
in  political  caucuses  and  conventions  was  made  by  the 
legislature  of  California  in  1866;  but  the  statute  then 
passed,  though  comprehensive  in  its  safeguarding  provisions, 
was  optional  in  its  application ;  that  is,  it  was  to  apply  only 
to  such  political  party  or  parties  as  might  accept  its  provis- 
ions.* In  the  same  year  the  legislature  of  New  York  passed 
a  statute  of  similar  type,  less  comprehensive  in  its  provisions 
but  mandatory  in  application.'  This  measure,  despite  its 
inadequacy  to  secure  all  the  ends  desired,  marked  a  new  de- 
parture in  American  municipal  policy ;  for  it  was  virtually  an 

«C.  E.  Merriam,  Primary  EleeHon*  (Chioago.  1909),  7.  See  ■!» 
P.  W.  Dallinger.  Nomination*  for  Elective  Office  (New  York,  1897),  espeoiklly 
ehs.  v.-vL 

*  "An  Act  to  Protect  the  Elections  of  Voluntary  Associations  and  to 
Punish  Frauds  therein : "  Law*  of  California,  1866,  oh.  359. 

•  "An  Act  to  Protect  Primary  Meetings,  Caucuses,  and  Conventions 
of  PoUtioal  Parties : "  Lawn  of  New  York,  1866,  eh.  783.  Similar  acts  were 
pasawl  hy  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  ia  1871,  and  by  Missouri  in  1875. 
In  1874  California  extended  the  soope  oi  its  optional  statute. 


ZITNIOIPAL  NOMINATIONB  AKD  ILBCTI0M8       120 

acceptance  of  the  principle  that  political  partiea  aa  oi^aniaa- 
tions  for  nominating  eandidatea  diould  be  formally  reeog- 
niied  by  law,  and  that  their  methods  of  performing  thii 
public  function  should  be  laid  down  for  them  by  statutory 
provisions.  Other  states  gradually  gave  their  adhesion  to 
this  policy,  and  in  so  doing  usually  extended  the  scope  of 
their  laws,  until  in  course  of  time  many  of  the  saf^;uarda 
api^cable  to  regular  elections  were  applied  to  party  nomi- 
nations. Not,  however,  till  more  than  thirty  years  after 
New  York  first  committed  itself  to  the  principle  of  statu- 
tory regulation  had  two-thirds  of  all  the  states  enacted 
primary  laws.' 

The  general  purport  of  such  laws,  so  far  as  they  apply  Thapwur 
to  cities,  is  to  require  that  nominations  shall  be  made  by 
the  voters  of  '^e  respective  political  parties  at  a  regular 
primary  elec.'iM  ipon  official  ballots,  and  under  official 
supervision.  The  party  primaiy,  as  established  by  these 
laws,  may  be  either  "closed"  or  "open."  The  former 
type  of  primary  is  the  more  common,  and  its  chief  charao- 
toristic  is  that  only  regular  members  of  the  party  can 
take  part  in  it.  Although  theoretically  superior  to  the 
old  caucus  and  convention  8}rstems,  in  that  it  aims  to 
secure  a  fair  opportunity  for  the  e]q>re88ion  of  a  party's 
opinions,  the  closed  primary  in  the  municipal  system  has 
some  serious  defects.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  based  upon 
the  assumption  that  all  municipal  voters  have  some  definite 
party  allegiance.  This  does  not  necef  .  rily  mean  that 
the  voter  must  actually  bear  allegiance  to  one  or  other 
of  the  state  parties,  but  in  practice  it  commonly  works 
out  that  way.  It  may  almost  be  said,  indeed,  that  the 
spread  of  the  closed  primary  has  helped  to  give  state-party- 
ism  in  municipal  a£fairs  an  extended  lease  of  life.    This  is 

'  For  an  extended  aooooat  ot  tbk  devdopment,  tee  C.  E.  McRfaun. 
Primary  EU^iotu,  elu.  iL-vL 


■MM 


mmh 


I  AibK^  '.^'ttk'vMXui^ 


130 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


,  - 


because  the  voter,  either  at  the  time  of  registration  or  at 
the  primary,  is  in  most  states  required  to  disclose  the  party 
to  which  he  belongs ;  for,  as  a  matter  of  practice,  separate 
lists  of  voters  are  usually  made,  and  the  parties  commoniy 
hold  their  primaries  on  different  dates.  Even  in  Massa- 
chusetts, where  joint  primaries  are  held  and  a  single  voters' 
list  used,  the  voter  must  nevertheless  declare  the  party 
to  which  he  belongs,  and  in  accordance  with  his  statement 
receives  the  ballot  of  his  own  party .^  This  necessity  of 
declaring  aflUiations  has  been  one  of  the  chief  objections  raised 
against  the  closed  primary.  Sometimes  the  method  whereby 
a  voter  shall  declare  his  party  allegiance,  and  the  rules 
governing  the  acceptance  of  his  declaration,  are  left  to  the 
party  authorities ;  but  more  commonly  the  means  by  which 
his  party  aflUiation  shall  be  established  are  prescribed  by 
state  laws.  Some  states  require  a  declaration  of  his  past 
allegiance,  others  of  his  present  preference,  and  a  few  pre- 
scribe that  he  shall  say  which  party  he  intends  to  support 
at  the  next  election.  The  rules  relating  to  the  way  in  which 
such  declarations  are  recorded,  the  degree  of  secrecy  to  be 

>  At  the  hearings  held  in  Boeton  a  eoaple  ot  yean  ago  by  a  jdnt 
oommittee  of  the  New  York  legialature,  neariy  all  those  who  testified 
were  of  the  opinion  that  the  Massaohusetts  system  <rf  holding  joint 
party  primaries  had,  after  a  trial  <rf  nine  years,  inoved  a  faUure,  so  far 
as  providing  a  satisfactory  method  of  nominating  munidpal  ofSoers  was 
concerned.  It  was  urged  by  those  who  appeared  heSan  the  oommittee 
that  both  the  character  and  the  ealiber  of  candidates  had  deteriorated 
since  the  introduction  ot  the  system,  that  their  expenses  t<a  nomination 
had  greatly  increased  (in  a  threefold  measure,  according  to  one  who  ^iA 
been  a  candidate  under  both  the  convention  and  the  primary  system), 
that  contests  for  nominations  had  become  campaigns  of  personalities 
rather  than  of  principles,  that  party  responsibility  had  declined,  and 
that  the  members  of  the  minority  party  took  vny  little  interest  in  the 
ivimaries.  A  digest  of  this  testimony  is  given  in  Report  of  the  Joint 
Committee  of  the  SenaU  and  AaaenMy  of  the  StaU  of  New  York  appointed 
to  invettigate  the  Primary  and  EUetion  Lam  of  thi$  and  other  Statet 
(Albany,  1001),  5-29.  In  corroboration,  see  also  Reporte  of  the  Boston 
Finance  Conwiission  (7  vols.,  Boston,  1908-1012),  II.  22-24. 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  ELECTIONS       131 


! 


maintained  by  officials  who  receive  them,  and  various  other 
matters  differ  greatly  from  state  to  state.^ 

The  other  type  of  party  primary  is  that  used,  for  ex- 
ample, in  Wisconsin  and  commonly  called  the  "open" 
primary.  Candidates  for  nomination  at  the  open  primary 
bear  the  designations  of  then:  respective  parties;  but  no 
disclosure  of  party  affiliations  is  reacted  from  voters.  The 
same  ballot  serves  for  all.  Hence  the  voter  may  record  his 
choice  for  the  candidates  of  either  party  and  his  action  will 
remain  known  to  no  one  but  himself. 

Both  forms  of  primary  election  described  in  the  fore- 
going paragraphs  are  party  primaries.  They  rest  on  the 
idea  that,  whether  asked  to  disclose  thdr  partisan  allegiance 
or  not,  the  voters  should  be  given  their  choice  between 
candidates  who^e  names  bear  party  designations  on  the 
ballot.  On  the  principle,  however,  that  party  designations 
ought  to  have  no  place  on  the  municipal  ballot  at  any 
election,  whether  preliminary  or  final,  some  cities  have 
established  the  nonpartisan  primary.  This  system,  as 
a  method  of  nominating  candidates  for  municipal  uffices, 
was  first  tried  in  Iowa,  where  the  legislature  applied  it  to 
such  cities  as  might  accept  the  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment.' It  was  adopted  at  once  by  Des  Moines,  and  went 
into  operation  there  in  1907.  Since  that  date  it  has  gained 
acceptance  in  many  of  the  cities  governed  by  commissions, 
and  in  at  least  two  states  permission  has  been  granted  for  its 
adoption  by  cities  that  desire  to  retain  their  old  frames  of 
government.'    Under  this  type  of  primary,  mimicipal  officers 


The  open 
jvimaiy. 


I A  loininaiy  of  nieh  nKoUtimui  may  be  fonnd  in  ComparaUie  Legit- 
loKon  BvUtUn,  No.  13,  imied  by  tb«  Legidative  Hoforenoe  Department 
of  the  ^neoMiain  Free  library  CommiMion  in  19C. 

*  Lam  ef  Iowa,  1907,  oh.  48.  The  mora  important  proriiione  vA  thia 
■tatute  an  inrinted  in  C.  L.  Jonea'a  Bmtdintt  on  PartUt  and  BUeHoiu  (New 
Twk,  1912),  67-70. 

•  LatM  eif  WiteonatH,  1907,  di.  670;  Lawt  of  Minnuota,  1909,  oh.  170. 


132 


OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


(N>jeetioiw 
to  the 
IMJinaiy 
■y«t«ni. 


are  selected  by  what  is  virtually  a  double  election.  When 
the  time  for  a  municipal  election  draws  near,  notice  is  given 
that  any  one  who  desires  to  be  a  candidate  may  have  his 
name  entered  upon  the  primary  ballot  by  presenting  a  pe- 
tition signed  by  a  small  number  of  qualified  voters,  usually 
twenty-five.  All  such  names  are  put  upon  the  ballot 
without  any  party  designation  whatever,  the  order  being 
determined  alphabetically,  or  by  the  course  in  which  the 
petitions  were  filed,  or  by  lot.  As  all  voters  at  the  primary 
use  the  same  ballot,  there  is  no  disclosure  of  partisan  prefer- 
ences. The  two  candidates  who  make  the  hi^est  showing 
for  an  office  are  thereupon  named  upon  the  general  ballot 
to  be  used  at  the  r^iular  election.  In  this  way  the  nonpar- 
tisan primary  becomes  a  sort  of  qualifjring  heat  which  elimi- 
nates the  weaker  contestants  from  participation  in  the  final 
race.  As  such  it  has  undoubted  merits.  It  insures  the 
election  of  mimicipal  officials  by  a  majority,  rather  than  by 
a  mere  plurality,  of  the  polled  votes,  and  thus  accomplishes 
at  American  city  elections  what  is  obtained  by  the  use 
of  the  system  of  supplementary  elections  in  Germany,  the 
chief  difference  being  that  in  Germany  a  candidate  who 
polls  a  clear  majority  at  the  first  election  j  declared  thereby 
to  have  been  finally  chosen,  and  there  is  no  need  for  a  second 
polling.*  The  nonpartisan  primary  must  also  to  some  ex- 
tent encourage  independent  candidacy;  it  helps  to  oust  state 
politics  from  city  affairs;  it  insures  a  short  b«»'''t  for  the 
final  election;  and  it  puts  the  whole  respons-  .  i?  r  satis- 
factory nominations  upon  the  voters  themse; 

On  the  other  hand,  the  nonpartisan  primary  L.  in  actual 
operation  disclosed  some  objectionable  features.  The  total 
vote  cast  at  a  primary,  thou^i  probably  larger  on  the  whole 

» In  San  Frsnoisoo  and  a  few  other  Amerioan  cities  the  lawi  provide 
that  a  clear  majority  at  the  primary  Mouree  the  actual  election  of  any 
candidate. 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  BLBCTIONB       1^ 

than  that  which  was  commonly  polled  in  the  election  of 
delegates  to  a  nominating  convention,  is  usually  much  smaller 
than  that  polled  at  a  regular  election.  Unless  there  be 
important  local  issues  represented  by  rival  candidates, 
the  primary  is  not  likely  to  draw  out  the  voters  in  great 
numbers;  and  when  a  large  part  of  the  available  vote  is 
not  forthcoming,  it  is  usually  found  that  the  stay-at-homes 
include  most  of  those  whose  participation  at  the  nomination 
of  candidates  is  much  needed  in  the  interest  of  good  city 
government. 

Again,  the  nonpartisan  primary  is  costly  to  all  concerned,  its  oMtu- 
and  particularly  to  the  candidates.  The  candidate  who  hopes 
for  success  must,  in  the  absence  of  party  backing,  make 
himself  known  to  the  mass  of  the  voters;  and  this  he 
can  do,  as  a  rule,  only  by  means  of  an  advertising  campaign 
which  involves  com  ierable  outlay  either  on  his  own  part  or 
on  that  of  his  friends.  The  advantage,  under  the  nonparti- 
san primary  ssrstem,  lies  with  the  candidate  who  can  prosecute 
the  most  effective  publicity  campaign.  This  fact  has  become 
so  far  recognized  of  late  that  some  states  and  cities  are 
undertaking  to  give  equal  publicity  to  the  claims  of  all  the 
aspirants  by  sending  to  every  voter  a  pamphlet,  printed  and 
mailed  at  public  «q>ense.  Such  an  arrangement  might  have 
a  tendency  to  multiply  candidates,  since  there  are  undoubt- 
edly not  fi  few  men  in  every  community  who  would  grasp  the 
opportunity  to  have  their  public  virtues  set  forth  broadcast 
without  any  cost  to  themselves.  Precautions  against  this 
contingency  could,  it  may  be  suggested,  be  taken  by  a  pro- 
vision that  a  small  sum  toward  the  cost  of  the  pamphlet 
shall  be  assessed  upon  each  candidate,  but  under  the  present 
constitutions  of  many  states  this  would  be  impracticable  in 
view  of  provisions  which  prescribe  freedom  of  candidacy 
for  public  office. 

Whether  the  nonpartisan  primary  secures  the  nomination 


■■Mil 


184 


OOVBRNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIBS 


'I 
»1» 


i 


U 


The  type 
of  eandi- 
daey  which 
itiwomotM. 


ReUtive 
menu  of 
the  injmaijr 
and  the 
conventioo. 


of  better  candidates  than  either  the  convention  or  the  parti- 
san primary  is  not  yet  established.  So  far  as  can  be  judged 
from  the  experience  of  a  few  years,  it  gives  great  advantages 
to  the  smooth  man  who  is  willing  to  spend  money  in  making 
himself  known,  or  to  the  aspirant  who  keeps  himself  much  in 
the  public  eye,  regardless  of  the  way  in  which  he  gets  himself 
there.  Public  prominence  is  by  no  means  synonymous  with 
past  service ;  a  man  may  have  acquired  the  one  without  hav- 
ing given  the  other.  Many  voters  who  go  to  the  nonparti- 
san primary  are  confronted  with  a  sheet  of  names  wholly 
unknown  to  them.  Having  no  party  designations  to  guide 
them,  they  are  apt  to  be  influenced  by  some  inconsequential 
things,  such  as  the  race  or  the  religion  of  a  candidate  as 
indicated  by  his  name,  or  the  place  which  a  name  occupies 
on  the  ballot  paper.  In  some  cities  a  candidate  is  permitted 
to  put  on  the  ballot,  after  his  name,  a  short  statement  of 
his  claims  to  the  support  of  voters.  If  he  has  had  some 
experience  in  municipal  office,  and  mentions  this  fact  on 
the  ballot,  he  furnishes  some  information  that  may  be  of 
service  to  voters;  but  the  set  of  alliterative  adjectives  with 
which  most  candidates  adorn  their  names  on  the  primary 
ballot  is  of  little  or  no  help  to  any  one.  It  has  been  well 
said  that  the  primary  offers  a  greater  opportunity  than 
the  convention  for  the  defeat  of  a  conspicuously  unfit  aspir- 
ant, and  that  one  who  is  known  to  the  community  as 
unusually  weU-qualified  for  any  position  is  more  likely  to 
secure  a  nomination  from  the  voters  than  from  a  convention. 
The  usual  aspirant  for  a  municipal  nomination,  however,  is 
in  neither  of  these  categories;  and  in  the  matter  of  sorting 
out  the  best  among  a  list  of  average  candidates  neither 
system  seems  to  have  done  much  better  than  the  other. 

At  its  best  the  convention  was  capable  of  hi^-grade  work. 
Now  and  then  a  small  minority  of  the  delegates  could  by 
showing  sufficient  vigor  compel  the  majority  to  accept,  in 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  BLBCTI0N8       135 

the  interests  of  hannony,  a  candidate  of  better  stamp  than 
would  otherwise  have  been  chosen.  Under  this  sjrstem 
there  was  always  an  opportunity  for  compromise,  and  a 
vigorous  minority  could  at  least  make  its  influence  felt  in 
the  outcome.  Under  the  primary  system,  whether  partisan 
or  nonpartisan,  the  door  of  compromise  is  pretty  nearly 
closed.  The  majority,  whatever  be  its  ideals,  must  have 
its  whole  way.  This  would  not  be  so  bad,  however,  were  it 
not  that  the  majority  opinion,  as  expressed  at  the  primary, 
is  often  no  more  than  a  pubUc  ratification  of  some  de- 
cision already  reached  in  caucus  conclave  by  a  few  leaders. 
This  is  because  the  direct  primary,  whether  open,  closed 
or  nonpartisan,  has  not  done  away  with  the  making  of 
slates  by  those  who,  through  some  means  or  other,  can 
exert  influence  upon  certain  elemoits  among  the  voters. 
It  has  merely  pressed  back  the  process  of  slate-making 
from  a  point  preceding  the  election  to  a  point  preceding 
the  primary.  In  many  cajes  the  primary  has  become  little 
more  than  a  preliminary  contest  between  those  candidates 
who  have  organized  support  and  those  who  have  not ;  and 
the  result,  too  often,  is  just  what  it  would  be  under  any 
other  system  of  nomination.  The  chief  difference  is  that  it 
permits  the  leaders  who  have  really  determined  the  out- 
come to  avoid  all  responsibility  for  it.  Under  the  conven- 
tion system  the  boss  could  dictate  nominations  with  rea- 
sonable certainty,  but  he  had  to  take  the  responsibility  for 
the  slate  which  he  presented;  under  the  primary  arrange- 
ments he  may  be  less  certain  to  have  his  way,  but  when  he 
does  get  it  he  can  rarely  be  made  to  bear  any  responsibility 
whatever. 

The  primary,  furthermore,  proves  an  excellent  weapon  itaeffeet 
of  discipline  among  the  rank  and  file  of  a  party.  The  removal  ^^*'" 
of  party  designations  from  the  ballot  does  not  in  practice  ^^"''^ 
eliminate   tux.   obligation   to   stanch   partisan    allegiance. 


J 


UMI 


186 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


I  I 


I 


II'. 


m 


il 


* 


The  pri- 
mary ia  not 
A  final  aolu- 
Uonof  the 
qowtion. 


NtMuination 
by  petition. 


The  word  is  paraed  out  >y  the  leaden,  and  it  is  pretty 
generally  obeyed.  The  aspirant  who  questions  the  judg- 
ment of  his  party  superiors  mav  take  his  chances  at  the 
primary,  and  in  some  cases  may  succeed,  but  the  chances 
are,  in  the  long  run  and  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
heavily  against  him.  Under  the  old  system  the  leaders, 
to  make  things  run  smoothly,  usually  found  it  desirable 
to  conciliate  rather  than  to  discipline  the  recalcitrant  who 
showed  that  he  had  some  followers.  Now  all  they  need  to 
do  is  to  tell  the  man  who  thinks  he  has  a  following  that 
entitles  him  to  recognition  by  the  party  leaders  to  put  his 
name  on  the  primary  ballot  and  let  his  strength  with  the 
voters  disclose  itself.  For  his  defeat  there  he  can  muster 
up  no  reasonable  grudge.  The  primary  has  thus  become, 
in  some  measure,  a  useful  means  of  healing  breaches  in 
the  party  organization,  and  of  enabling  the  machine  to 
come  forward  to  the  elections  without  a  trace  of  friction.* 

In  view  of  these  various  drawbacks,  it  is  very  unlikely 
that  the  primary,  in  any  of  the  t}rpes  now  used,  will  prove 
a  satisfactory  and  final  solution  of  those  problems  which 
connect  themselves  with  municipal  nomination  methods; 
for  it  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  voters  will 
act  wisely  without  leadership,  rather  than  upon  the  principle 
that  they  will  follow  wise  leadership.  This  is  just  the  trouble 
with  too  many  lattePKiay  political  reforms :  they  endeavor 
to  supplant  vicious  leadership  by  no  leadership  at  all.  K 
they  assumed  the  inevitableness  of  leadership  and  strove  to 
make  it  responsible,  the  results  would  undoubtedly  be 
better. 

It  was  a  feeling  that  the  whole  primary  system  was  faulty 
in  some  of  the  directions  above  indicated  which  led  to  the 
adoption,  in  the  amended  Boston  charter,  of  the  system  of 

t  Thia  has  been  the  experience  in  Massachusetts ;  in  several  other 
■tates,  liowever,  this  feature  lias  not  as  yet  disclosed  itself. 


worUach 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  ELECTIONS       137 

nomination  by  petition.  Since  1909  it  has  been  poenble  for 
any  Boston  voter  to  appear  upon  the  municipal  ballot  as  a 
candidate  for  election  to  the  office  of  mayor,  or  to  the  city 
council  or  the  school  committee,  by  filing  with  the  election 
board,  at  least  twenty-five  days  prior  to  the  election,  nominal 
tion  papers  bearing  at  least  6000  valid  signatures.  Signatures 
are  valid  for  this  purpose  only  if  made  by  registered  voters 
who  have  signed  no  more  papers  than  there  are  places 
to  be  filled.  Each  paper  bears  the  name  and  residence  of 
the  candidate,  but  no  party  designation;  it  contains  also 
the  names  of  five  or  more  other  persons  who,  in  case  the 
candidate  should  later  withdraw,  would  have  power  to  name 
a  substitute.  The  papers  are  examined  by  the  election 
commissioners,  who  check  each  name  by  the  voters'  lists.* 

In  actual  operation  thus  far,  the  system  of  nomination  itoMtuai 
by  large  petitions  has  shown  itself  to  be  possessed  of  great 
merits  and  of  equally  obvious  defects.  Without  doubt  it 
has  weakened  the  influence  of  party  organizations  in  con- 
trolling nominations;  for,  though  candidates  can  secure 
signatures  much  more  easily  when  they  have  an  organization 
behind  them,  it  is  nevertheless  quite  possible  to  obtain  them 
by  the  efforts  of  a  few  individuals  without  this  support. 
To  that  extent,  therefore,  the  system  has  weakened  party 
discipline,  since  the  elimination  of  the  candidates  who  have 
no  political  faction  behind  them  does  not  take  place  until  the 
election.  Again,  unlike  the  primary,  the  system  of  nomina- 
tion by  petition  gives  every  element  in  the  community  a 
chance  to  put  forward  its  own  candidate ;  it  does  not  re- 
strict  the  race  to  the  two  strongest  candidates.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  has  not  put  an  end  to  the  preliminary  caucus ; 
in  fact,  the  real  selection  of  candidates  is  usually  made  by 
rival  organizations,  through  their  committees,  some  weeks 
before  the  time  for  filing  nominations  arrives.  To  get  the 
>  AeU  and  RttobM*  of  MauaekuutU,  1909,  oh.  486,  f  53. 


188 


OOYERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


The  need 


required  dgnaturet  for  these  candidates,  moreover,  does  not 
by  any  means  prove  to  be  so  easy  a  task  as  was  antici- 
pated. The  system  has  also  brought  in  its  train  a  good  deal 
of  chicanery,  forging  of  names,  and  other  illicit  practices. 
On  the  whole,  however,  it  serves  the  cause  of  independence 
in  municipal  politics  better  than  any  of  the  nominating 
r  ems  which  preceded  it,  for  it  encourages  the  putting 
forward  of  candidates  who,  despite  their  personal  meritb, 
would  have  little  chance  of  nomination  at  the  hands  of  either 
a  convention  or  a  primary, 
ofiiiiipu-  "^^  establishment,  in  American  cities,  of  a  system  of 
f ying  nomi-  nominations  that  will  give  every  citiien  a  fair  chance  to 
pRwJdun.  ^^^^  himself  as  a  candidate  for  public  office  and  yet  not 
bring  an  avalanche  of  names  upon  the  ballot  is  something 
yet  to  be  achieved.  One  is  moved  to  ask,  however,  why  this 
should  be  so  serious  a  problem  in  America  when  it  is  such  in 
no  other  country.  In  England  it  needs  the  names  of  only 
ten  qualified  voters  to  put  a  candidate  before  the  municipal 
electorate ;  in  France  and  Germany  any  voter  may  become  a 
candidate  for  municipal  office  upon  his  own  poisonal 
announcement.  Even  in  the  cities  of  Canada,  where  social 
and  political  conditions  are  not  very  different  from  those  of 
American  municipalities,  any  two  voters  may  officially 
nominate  a  candidate.  In  all  these  countries  the  road  to  a 
place  on  the  ballot  is  easy  enough;  yet  the  number  of 
municipal  candidates  is  everywhere  smaller  than  in  the 
United  States.  What  one  may  have  for  the  asking  one  is 
not  apt  to  desire  for  its  own  sake.  Mere  candidacy  for 
municipal  office  is  regarded  as  an  honor  nowhere  but  in  the 
United  States,  and  it  is  so  regarded  here  only  because 
nominations  have  been  made  so  difficult.  When  it  is  nearly 
as  hard  to  get  one's  name  on  the  ballot  as  it  is  to  win  an 
election,  and  sometimes  even  harder,  nominations  are  liable 
to  be  too  much  sought  for  their  own  sake.    If  the  American 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  ■LBOTIONS       139 

city  were  to  put  upon  its  ballot  the  name  of  any  voter  who 
asked  to  appear  there,  it  would  find,  judging  from  the 
experience  of  eveiy  other  country,  that,  far  from  being 
deluged  with  aspirants,  it  would  in  the  long  run  have 
fewer  names  on  the  ballot  than  under  a  system  demanding 
6000  signatures.  Nomination  reform  ought  to  move  in  the 
direction  of  simplification;  its  aim  ouj^t  to  be  to  make  it 
as  easy  for  a  voter  to  have  his  name  printed  on  the  ballot 
as  it  now  is  for  him  to  write  it  there  when  he  goes  to  the 
polls.  Were  this  done,  many  of  the  present  nomination 
problems  might  eventually  pass  out  of  existence. 

Municipal  elections  in  the  United  States  have  presented  UwdOpa 
various  difficulties;  there  have  been  times,  in  most  of  the  •"«**«* 
large  cities,  when  it  has  seemed  well-aig^  impossible  to 
secure  a  full  and  fair  expression  of  popular  opinion  at  the 
polls.*  Most  of  these  difficulties  have,  however,  been  met 
and  so  far  overcome  that  elections  are  nowadajrs  conducted 
about  as  fairly  and  as  efficiently  in  the  United  States  as  in 
any  other  country.  There  are,  nevertheless,  four  matters 
connected  with  election  methods  and  machinery  upon 
which  there  is  still  no  uniformity  of  practice  or  opinion. 
These  relate  to  the  proper  date  for  a  mtmicipal  election,  the 
selection  of  polling-places,  the  form  and  contents  of  the 
ballot,  and  the  prohibition  of  election  practices  that  are 
unduly  expensive,  imfair,  or  corrupt. 

As  to  the  proper  date  of  a  municipal  election,  the  chief  Tiwdtto 
question  is  whether  it  should  be  held  upon  the  same  day  ^^SidwH 
as  the  state  election  or  not.    In  favor  of  holding  both  elec-  **°^ 
tions  upon  the  same  day  may  be  urged  the  saving  in  expense. 
Elections  are  costly,  more  so  than  the  average  citizen  imag- 
ines.   The  registration  of  votos,  the  printing  of  ballots, 

'  Fot  an  aeeount  cf  the  metbods  tiut  have  been  used  to  irin  deetiona 
m  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  we  C.  L.  Jones,  Beading,  on  ParUea  and 
EUetiont  (New  York,  1912),  282-296. 


140 


OOVXRMMINT  OF  AlCBBIOAN  CITI18 


i'( 


Ol^eetioiia 
to  the 
pnotioe 
<rf  boldinc 
■tate  and 
municipal 
deetionaon 
the 
day. 


the  rental  of  polliiig^oomt,  the  payment  of  pollinf-offieen, 
aiMl  similar  items  of  expenditure  combine  to  put  upon  the 
city  a  cost  which  amounts  to  about  a  dollar  for  every  ballot 
cast  at  a  municipal  election.  To  this  must  be  added  the 
legitimate  and  necessary  expenses  of  a  campaign  which, 
thoue^  not  paid  for  out  of  the  municipal  treasury,  yet  fall 
upon  the  community  in  which  the  election  takes  place. 
When  state  and  munioipal  elections  are  held  upon  the  same 
day,  there  is  thus  a  large  saving  both  in  officiiJ  and  in  cam- 
paign expenses.  Moreover,  this  policy  insures  the  polling 
of  a  larger  percentage  of  the  regirtered  vote.  Voten  seem 
to  come  to  the  polls  in  numbers  proportioned  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  election.  The  mft^imi^Tn  vote  appears  when 
the  national,  state,  and  municipal  elections  all  come  together. 
When  the  city  election  is  isolated  from  the  others,  popular 
interest  in  it  seems  ordinarily  to  flag  unless  some  unusual 
stimulus  is  applied  to  it ;  and  a  small  polled  vote  at  a  city 
election  is  unfortunate,  not  only  because  it  gives  no  fair 
reflection  of  public  opinion,  but  because  the  friends  of  well- 
ordered  administration  usually  form  more  than  their  due 
proportion  of  the  absentees. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  practice  of  holding  state  and 
municipal  elections  on  the  same  day  has  been  influential  in 
bringing  state  politics  into  city  affairs.  Identity  of  election 
dates  usually  means  that  the  state  and  municipal  parties 
conduct  a  mutual  campaign,  which  is  another  way  of  saying 
that  the  interests  of  each  party  organization  in  the  city  will 
be  sacrificed,  whenever  necessaiy,  to  the  interests  of  the 
same  party  organization  in  the  state.  As  will  be  suggested 
in  a  later  chapter,  partyism  is  not  in  itself  an  objectionable 
feature  of  a  municipal  campaign.  The  objection  ia  only 
to  the  identification  of  state  and  municipal  partyism,  or, 
in  other  words,  to  the  trailing  into  the  municipal  arena  of 
party  programmes   and  partyisms  which   have  no  local 


IfUNIOIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  IL8CTI0N8       141 

relevMioe.  So  long  m  the  voten  of  a  dty  divide  acooiding 
to  their  etote-pMrty  affilistione,  there  is  little  or  no  oppor- 
tunity for  division  upon  local  issues.  Municipal  partyism 
can  be  developed  only  when  local  issues  are  made  to  serve 
as  the  basis  of  political  denvage.  The  holding  of  state  and 
municipal  dections  on  different  days  is  one  of  the  features, 
thouf^  only  one,  which  make  the  rise  of  local  parties  possible. 
Most  cities,  actuated  by  a  desire  to  divorce  local  from  stoto 
politics,  have  kept  thdr  municipal  elections  upon  a  dato 
apart;  Boston,  Chicago,  and  &ui  Francisco  are  examples. 
On  the  other  hand,  Baltimore,  and  a  few  other  dties 
elect  Huu  munidpal  officers  on  the  regular  state-deetion 
day. 

In  the  sdeotion  of  plaoes  for  munidpal  polling  a  few  woaf 
matters  are  worth  bearing  in  mind.  Polling-places  should  be  '^"^ 
located  where  they  will  best  aerve  the  convenience  of  voters ; 
they  should  be  at  points  easy  to  find  without  detailed  direc- 
tions; and,  wherever  practicable,  public  buildings  should 
be  used  for  the  purpose.  A  schoolroom  forms  an  ideal 
polling-place,  if  it  be  available.  In  some  European  cities 
schools  are  always  so  used ;  but  in  America,  where  elections 
are  almost  invariably  held  on  a  Tuesday,  schoohrooms  are 
on  that  day  in  use  for  their  regular  purpose.  When  it 
becomes  necessary  to  rent  polling-places,  it  is  usual  to 
avoid  certain  buildings,  such  as  those  in  which  intoxicating 
liquors  are  rold;  in  many  cities,  indeed,  the  law  forbids 
the  holding  of  a  poll  in  or  adjacent  to  such  premises.  Build- 
ings that  are  used  for  sectarian  purposes,  or  that  are  associ- 
ated in  the  popular  mind  with  any  partisan  propaganda, 
are  also  commonly  avoided.  Some  dties  have  found  it 
profitable  to  provide  themselves  with  portaUe  booths 
which  can  be  set  up  in  a  public  square  or  other  convem«it 
place  for  use  on  election  day. 
Of  greater  importance,  however,  than  the  time  or  the  TtMbdot 


iBHi 


ggli^llgljililgll^ 


143 


OOVEANMBNT  OP  AMBRIOAN  OITI18 


ObtMUcm 
totiwoM 


•*.'! 


Introdu^ 
tion  of  th» 
Australiaa 
UUot. 


pbee  of  poUing  is  the  form  of  baUot  used.  That  it  should 
be  such  M  will  enaUe  •  voter  to  record  his  opimon  aecretly 
ia  a  feature  recognised  in  all  American  cities.  In  the  c  riier 
periods  of  American  municipal  history  voters  were  renuxred 
to  provide  their  own  ballots ;  but  candidates  and  their  or- 
ganisations soon  adopted  the  practice  of  inreparing  printed 
■lips  which  voters  might  use  if  they  widied.  As  the  number 
of  elective  oflScers  incren^,  these  ballots  grew  in  size, 
until  it  came  to  pass  that  the  voter  nftv^r  prepared  Im  own 
ballot  paper,  but  merely  used  the  printed  sheet,  or  ?*ate,  <  i 
candidates  handed  out  »n  party  agents.  If  he  wished  t^ 
depart  irom  this  list,  he  eriaed  one  or  more  nar  eg  and  wrote 
in  others,  a  ^t>cedure  known  m  "scratching"  a  ballot. 
This  was  the  ballot  srystem  which  remained  in  vogue  throusrh- 
out  the  citiM  of  the  United  States  until  about  twenty-fiw 
years  ago. 

The  system  was,  however,  open  to  many  serio  objee- 
tions.  It  was  the  custom  of  party  organizations  tc  provio  * 
baUot  papers  which,  fitmi  their  col.  t  or  foi  m,  could  be  recog- 
nised even  when  folded,  so  that  secrecy  of  voticg  was  prae- 
tically  df^troyed.  Furthermore,  a  heavy  premium  w»  put 
upon  voting  a  straight  party  ticket ;  the  voter  who  «  ed 
to  depart  from  th*  regular  slate  could  do  so  only  with  some 
trouble  to  himself.  All  this  facilitated  trickery  of  various 
sorts;  for,  with  an  unlimited  number  f  ballot  papers  in 
circulation  about  the  polling-bo  h,  the  ordir  .^r  -  securities 
against  ballot-switching,  the  sti  ing  ^f  uHot-boxes  and 
kindred  frauds  were  impaired.     The  m  a-    ga       a 

great  advantage  to  the  regular        organ*     tion,  caadidatcs. 
and  served  to     iscourage  indep  ndent  canuida 

It  was  because  of  this  that  a  movement  i  an,  in  the 
later  eighties,  for  the  adoption  ot  ^he  so-termc  i  Australian 
bsllot.  As  a  rsattef  of  fact,  then  was  noflung  exclusively 
AustraUan  about  the  ne      ballot     although  it  originated 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  BLICTIONfl       148 


there,  it  WM  merely  the  ballot  uawd  in  lg»*j^*wc^  ginee  1S73, 
Miii  in  an  the  aelf-goTerniag  Eaj^  colonies.  The  die- 
tinfuiihing  charaeterstio  of  thia  ballot  lies, not  in  its  site 
or  shape  or  arrangeuient,  but  merely  in  the  faet  that  it  is 
printed  officially  at  tl  e  public  expense,  whereas  under  the 
dider  system  ballots  wore  printed  either  by  or  on  behalf 
ai  the  candidates  at  their  own  cost.  The  "Australian" 
ballots,  beuig  official,  b(  -^r  the  names  of  all  the  candidates, 
whetl  r  put  forward  by  organisations  or  otherwise ;  they 
are  prinled  under  close  official  supervision  in  limited  numbers, 
art*  m^lisd  to  each  polling-booth  for  the  use  of  voters,  and 
■nxmi  be  accounted  for  \  :  a  the  voting  is  over.  Thar 
%i«e  res  8^  olute  secrecy ,  and  affords  some  security 
**^  .iud      at  practices.* 

bis  ba       ao(m  developed  in  America  a  form  utterly  BaUot 
ilike  its  proto  ype  in  Australia.'    Since  th««  were  many    ' 
municipal  offic«v  to  be  elected,  and  since  the  various  parties 
continued  to  put  whole  slated  of  candidates  in  nomination, 
it  became  customary  to  arrvngf^  in  columns,  according  to 
their  party  affiiliations,  i^mes  of  all  the  candidates  on 

the  ballot.    Then  camt  Hit  of  putung  at  the  head  of 

each  column  a  party  syii  ad  below  this  a  circle  in 

which,  by  making  a  single  a  voter  could  recKurd  his 

vote  for  the  score  or  more  iidates  whose  names  were 

printed  in  the  column  underneath.  The  original  Australian 
ballot  had  none  of  these  things.  The  party  column,  the 
emblem,  and  the  circle  are  all  features  that  have  been 
engrafted  upon  it  in  America  by  the  influence  of  party  organ- 

>  P.  L.  AUen,  "Bdlot  Uwi  and  tbrir  Workings,"  in  PoUtUal  Stitnet 
Qwirierly,  XXI.  38  (Mudi,  1906).  On  tlie  i&ovement  tat  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  AuitraliMi  ballot  in  Ameriea,  lee  J.  H.  Wipnon,  The  Auttralia» 
Ballot  Sytem  (Boston.  1889). 

'  The  great  variety  of  regulations  adopted  by  the  variona  states  in 
regard  to  the  fonn  of  tlie  ballot  may  be  iMen  in  the  sununary  (rf  "Ballot 
Iawi  in  the  United  States,"  by  Arthur  Ludington,  in  American  Political 
Science  Remev,  III.  2^-261  (May,  1909). 


144 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIB8 


TiMloai 
baUot. 


Removal 
of  party 


izations  which  desired  to  hold  their  grip  upon  the  voters  and 
to  place  deterrents  in  tha  way  of  poUtical  independence. 

Aa  a  result  of  this  development,  the  ballot,  though  made 
secret,  was   not  made   intelligible.    The   premium  upon 
straight  voting  stiU  remained.    The  party  designation  of 
candidates  represented  a  direct  appeal  to  the  partisan  aUe- 
giance  of  voters.    The  number  of  names  upon  the  ballot, 
as  used  in  large  cities,  rendered  it  impossible  for  the  average 
voter  to  make  intelligent  selections ;  and  the  arrangement  of 
the  names  was  such  as  to  penaUae  him  with  extra  trouble, 
as  well  as  with  the  risk  of  spoiUng  his  ballot,  if  he  displayed 
any   political   independence.    To   vote   a   straight   party 
ticket  was  made  easy,  — a  single  cross  accomplished  that; 
but  it  sometimes  required  the  marking  of  fifty  or  more 
crosses  to  vote  a  split  ticket.    Thus  it  was  that,  despite  the 
changed  character  of  the  ballot,  party  organixations  con- 
tmtied  to  hold  most  of  the  advantages  which  they  had 
acquired  under  the  former  system.    The  next  step  in  the 
direction  of  baUot  reform  came  with  a  movement  for  the 
abolition  of  the  party  column  and  the  grouping  of  aU  candi- 
dates under  the  particular  offices  to  which  they  aspired 
Massachusetts,  in  1888,  had  adopted  a  ballot  of  this  type" 
which  bore  no  party  emblem  and  forced  the  voter  to  mark 
separately  his  choice  for  each  office.    This  was  an  improve- 
ment;  but  a  partisan  designation  stiU  foUowed  each  name 
on  the  baUot,  and  the  great  mass  of  voters  continued  to 
accept  this  as  their  sole  guide.    The  Massachusetts  baUot 
performed  a  good  service,  however,  in  paving  the  way  for 
the  dropping  of  partisan  designations  altogether,  and  the 
amended  Boston  charter  of  1909  marked  the  fint  application 
of  the  new  principle  to  the  elections  of  a  large  American  city.* 

.  Mualdpd  ImSoU  wWwut  p«ty  dedgn.tlon.  w«.  li«wv„.  .bmi. 


burden. 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  ELECTIONS       145 

Since  then  the  ballot  without  party  designations  has  found 
favor  in  many  cities  of  the  United  States ;  in  other  words, 
the  Australian  ballot  in  its  original  uncomplicated  form 
is  now  for  the  first  time  obtaining  a  fair  trial  in  this 
country. 

But  the  mere  removal  of  party  designations  from  the  The  udiot's 
municipal  ballot  is  not  likely  to  be  of  much  avail  in  promoting 
independent  and  intdligent  voting  unless  other  changes  go 
along  vrith  it.    If  the  voter  is  expected  to  use  discrimination 
in  marking  his  ballot,  the  ballot  itself  must  be  shortened  to  a 
point  at  which  a  fair  scrutiny  of  the  claims  of  each  candidate 
is  not  beyond  his  patience.    A  ballot  which  bears  twenty 
names  or  more  is  too  long  for  practical  scrutiny ;  the  average 
voter  will  pay  attention  to  the  candidates  for  a  few  of  the 
most  conspicuous  offices  only.*    The  others  he  will  vote 
for,  either  according  to  the  party  label  which  they  bear, 
or  according  to  some  other  rule  which  does  not  require  any 
careful  study  of  candidates  on  his  own  part.    To  say  this 
is  in  no  way  to  reflect  either  upon  the  intelligence  or  upon 
the  civic  spirit  of  the  ordinary  voter.    It  means  only  that 
there  is  something  wrong  wiUi  an  electoral  qrstem  which 
requires  from  every  man  a  service  that  not  one  in  ten 
thousand  is  willing  to  give.    It  is  idle  to  urge  that  all  munici- 
pal offices  might  be  capably  filled  by  election  if  the  voters 
would  perform  their  duty.    If  it  be  made  the  duty  of  the 
voter  to  constitute  himself  a  committee  of  investigation  at 
every  election,  he  will  not  perform  that  duty,  nor  will  any 
amount  of  political  sermonising  induce  him  to  do  it.    This 
being  the  case,  it  becomes  the  part  of  wisdom  not  to  put 
any  such  burden  upon  him.    To  this  end,  the  number  of 

>  BalloU  eontoining  time  or  four  hnndxad  luinw  have  not  bem  at  sD 
tuMommoii  at  state  and  aatioiial  daotiou.  The  neord  for  oawieMiiMM 
an>nnto  be  hdd  l«y  a  ballot  ued  in  the  tUrty-weond  aMemUy  dirtriet 
of  New  Yoric  State  a  few  yma  aga.  It  e«itaiBed  the  »»»***»  of  835 
candidates. 


■I 


146 


OOVEBNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Thethort 
UUot. 


elective  offices  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum ;  the  out- 
standing offices,  those  which  from  their  nature  cany  large 
powers  and  attract  wide  attention,  must  of  course  be  fillea 
by  popular  action,  but  there  the  task  of  the  voter  ought  to 
cease.    It  is  well  enough  for  politicians  to  dilate  upon  the 
"educative  value  of  a  system  under  which  aU  officers  of 
government  are  elected,"  or  upon  the  "antagonism  between 
executive  appointments  and  popular  sovereignty";  but  the 
downright  folly  of  requiring  voters  to  go  through  the  pre- 
tence of  doing  what  they  cannot  and  will  not  do  is  too  patent 
to  be  permanently  tolerated.    The  blanket  ballot  has  been 
the  political  jobber's  device  for  imposing  upon  the  voter  a 
hollow  mockery  of  popular  sovereignty  which  has  served 
to  shield  from  his  eyes  the  real  existence  of  a  political  oli- 
garchy.   Popular  sovereignty  demands  that  the  voter  shall 
do  more  than  go  through  the  form  of  selecting  his  represent- 
atives.    To    have    any   educative    value    whatever    the 
electoral  system  must  make  it  practicable  for  him  to  do 
more  than  execute  a  perfunctory  service  at  the  polls,    "  No 
plan  of  government  is  a  democracy  unless  on  actual  trial 
it  proves  to  be  one.    The  fact  that  those  who  planned  it 
intended  it  to  be  a  democracy  and  could  argue  that  it  would 
be  one  if  the  people  only  would  do  thus  and  so,  proves 
nothing." »    If  it  is  not  a  democracy  in  fact,  it  ought  not 
to  bear  the  name. 

It  is  not  enough,  moreover,  to  have  the  ballot  small  and 
the  names  upon  it  few.  No  matter  how  scant  the  number 
of  names,  the  voters  will  not  rouse  themselves  to  any  intelli- 
gent part  in  the  election  if  none  but  unimportant  offices  are 
to  be  filled.  The  ballot  should  bear,  therefore,  the  names 
of  those  only  who  are  candidates  for  such  municipal  offices 

•  R.  8.  Childi,  SMort  Ballot  PrineipUt  (Botton,  1911),  19.    Thli      ' 
book  may  be  commended  to  raaden  m  •  treoshut  ud  otdorful  •:    > 
meat  of  the  cue  fw  b»Uot  reform. 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  ELECTIONS       147 


as  bulk  large  in  the  public  imap  ation,  — the  posts  of 
mayor,  comptroller,  and  members  of  the  city  council,  if  the 
latter  body  be  not  too  large.  It  is  also  hig^y  dedrable 
that  a  pUice  upon  the  ballot  be  within  the  reach  of  candi- 
dates who  have  no  party  organizations  bdiind  them.  This 
can  be  achieved  to  some  extent  by  the  eUmination  of  all 
party  designations  from  the  ballot,  but  more  effectively 
by  the  establishment  of  a  system  under  which  voters  will 
indicate,  not  merely  their  first  choice  for  an  office,  but  their 
second  and  perhaps  their  third  choice  as  welL 

The  aim  of  the  ballot  ou^^t  to  be,  in  a  word,  to  extract  from  The  pnT. 
the  voter,  not  merely  a  part  of  his  juds^ient  in  regard  to  the  t!SS^ 
list  of  names  set  before  him,  but  the  whole  of  it.    A  ballot 
that  asks  the  voter  to  designate  onl>  hia  first  choice  solicits 
a  partial  judgment  only.    Voters  ought,  therefore,  what- 
ever possible,  to  be  asked  for  an  expression  of  their  opinions 
concerning  two  or  more  of  the  candidates  on  the  ballot, 
which  means  that  some  variety  of  the  so-termed  "  preferen- 
tial" ballot  may  well  be  employed  when  the  number  of  elec- 
tive offices  is  small  enough  to  permit  its  use.    The  inefep- 
ential  ballot  is  in  form  and  arrangement  simpler  than  the  bal- 
lot commonly  used  in  American  municipal  elections.    The 
names  of  candidates  are  printed  upon  it  in  a  column,  in  an 
order  determined  either  alphabetically  or  by  lot;  but, 
instead  of  the  single  column  in  which  the  voter  ordinaiity' 
marks  a  crow  to  designate  his  selection,  there  are  three 
vertical  columns,  in  which  he  is  asked  to  record  his  first, 
second,  and  other  choices  respectively.    He  indicates  his 
first  choice  just  as  he  would  in  using  the  ordinary  Australian 
ballot ;  in  the  second  column  he  puts  a  cross  opposite  the 
name  of  the  candidate  whom  he  wishes  to  mark  as  his  second 
choice ;  and  in  the  third  column  he  indicates  all  the  candi- 
dates (apart  from  the  two  already  designated)  to  whom  he 
is  not  definitely  opposed,  —  in  other  words,  all  those  whom  h« 


148 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Method  of 
flounting. 


would  deem  worthy  of  his  support  were  his  first  and  second 
favorites  out  of  the  running.  The  names  of  those  candidates 
whom  he  would  not  care  to  support  under  any  circumstances 
he  leaves  unmarked. 

When  preferential  baUots,  marked  in  this  way,  are  counted 
up  and  some  candidate  is  shown  to  have  a  clear  majority 
of  first  choices,  that  candidate  is  dechired  elected.    In  that 
event  the  outcome  of  the  baUoting  under  the  preferential 
system  would  dififer  in  no  way  from  that  in  which  the  ordi- 
nary baUot  is  employed.    If  no  candidate  secures  a  clear 
majority  of  first  choices,  the  second  choices  marked  for 
each  candidate  are  added  to  their  first  choices ;  and  the  one 
who  scores  highest  in  this  addition  wins,  provided  he  proves 
to  have  a  clear  majority  of  aU  the  first  and  second  choices 
taken  together.    If  no  candidate  has  this,  the  preferences  - 
indicated  in  the  third  column  are  added  to  the  totals  already 
recorded  for  each  candidate;  and  the  highest  wins,  whether 
he  has  a  majority  or  not. 
Various  advantages  are  claimed  for  this  system,  which 
p«f««.tiid    ""bstantially  in  the  form  outlined  by  the  preceding  para. 
„rt«n.        paph  has  been  m  operation  in  Grand  Junction,  Colorado,  and 
m  Spokane,  Washington,  during  the  last  two  or  three  years. 
It  dispenses  with  all  compUcated  nomination  machinery,  obvi- 
ating the  necessity  of  conventions  or  primaries  as  agencies  for 
weeding  out  aU  but  a  few  leading  candidates.    It  permits 
practicaUy  any  voter  to  have  his  name  put  on  the  ballot, 
for  even  a  considerable  list  of  names  does  not  impede  the 
working  of  the  system.    It  moreover  encourages  indepen- 
dent candidatures,  since  it  affords  an  opportunity  of  election 
to  the  man  who  has  no  strong  personal  foUowing  but  is 
regarded  with  moderate  favor  by  the  voters  in  general. 
It  serves  to  prevent  what  is  a  very  frequent  outcome  of 
three-cornered    campaigns    under   the   ordinary   baUoting 
system,  —  the  election  of  any  candidate  who  is  clearly  the 


AdvantafM 
daimed 
for  the 


BUJNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  BLBCTI0N8       149 

.election  of  a  minority.*  There  are,  of  course,  some  objec- 
tions to  the  system,  chief  of  which  is  the  possibiHty  that 
many  vot«B  would  find  it  so  hard  to  understand  that 
spoUed  baUots  would  be  numerous ;  but  the  preferential 
ballot  seems  to  have  given  satisfaction  in  the  two  cities  in 
which  It  has  been  on  trial,  and  it  ought  to  have  an  oppor- 
tumty  to  demonstrate  its  serviceability  on  a  wider  scale. 
Anything  which  offers  a  promise  of  getting  rid  of  the  cum- 
brous  American  nomination  machinery  is  indeed  to  be 
welcomed.*     • 

When  the  ordinary  baUot  bears  no  party  designations,  oxd«o* 
It  IS  hkely,  unless  it  be  very  short,  to  give  a  mar^vi^- 
tage  to  those  candidates  whose  names  appear  near  the  top 
of  the  hst     To  provide  that  names  shaU  appear  in  alpha- 
betical  order  is  to  put  a  handicap  upon  those  candidate, 
whose  names  begin  with  letters  weU  down  in  the  alphabet  • 
to  put  names  on  the  baUot  according  to  the  order  in  which 
the  nomination  papers  are  filed  is  to  encourage  an  V     -«mlv 
scramble  when  the  hour  for  fiUng  arrives.    Hence  the  se- 
quence of  names  is  in  many  places  decided  by  lot,  a  device 
which  merely  transfers  the  advantage  to  the  candidates  who 
happen  to  draw  the  lucky  numbers,  but  which,  by  givimr 
an  equal  chance  to  aU,  is  somewhat  better  than  the  oth« 
plans.    Some  cities  believe  that  they  have  found  a  satis- 
factory solution  in  an  arrangement  whereby  the  names 
on  the  baUot  are  revolved  alphabeticaUy,  -  that  is  to  say, 

arf!J*"L''^  diMMdon.  of  the  prafflnntiaHiaUot  >yttem    ■«•  th« 
art  cle  byR.  M.  HuB  on  "  ftrf««,tiia  Voti^Mmd  HoH^oS  "^ 

"•w  tnAmmem  CUtm  (Nav  York,  1911),  100-103;  258-261. 


ISO 


OOTERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


SceoritiM 

•gaiut 

camyt 

pnetiecakt 

•laetioM. 


an  utangement  under  which,  if  there  are  five  candidates,  for 
example,  each  of  them  will  have  his  name  at  the  top  of  one- 
fifth  of  all  the  ballots.  Just  how  much  advantage  comes 
from  occupying  the  first  place  on  the  ballot  depends  upon  a 
variety  of  circumstances,  including  the  make-up  of  the 
ballot  itself;  but  practical  politicians  esteem  the  place 
to  be  highly  important.^ 

A  final  consideration  affecting  municipal  elections  lies  in 
the  degree  of  security  afforded  against  corrupt  and  unfair 
practices.  From  the  beginnings  of  American  municipal 
history,  all  offences  that  are  by  nature  culpable,  such  as 
personation,  intimidation,  bribery,  tampering  with  ballots, 
and  falsif3ring  returns,  have  been  pimishable  under  the 
rules  of  conunon  law.  It  is  only  within  the  last  quarter- 
century,  however,  that  many  practices  which  do  not  involve 
moral  turpitude,  but  which  nevertheless  contribute  to  make 
an  election  undignified,  unfair,  or  unduly  expensive,  have 
been  forbidden  by  statute.  These  statutes,  modelled  in 
general  upon  the  EngUsh  "Corrupt  and  Illegal  Practices 
Prevention  Act"  of  1883  and  the  amending  act  of  1895 
(46-57  Victoria,  c.  51,  and  68-59  Victoria,  c.  40)  have  been 
applied  to  dty  electicms  in  many  states  of  the  Union.' 
"Hieir  provisions  vary  considerably  from  state  to  state, 
but  in  the  main  they  not  only  provide  severe  penalties  for 
bribery,  Slegal  voting,  and  intimidation,  but  contain  clauses 
limiting  the  sourras  from  which   campaign  contributions 

*  SonM  idea  cl  the  value  wUA  poiatkiuu  attach  to  poiwadim  of  the 
flnt  plaee  on  the  ballot  may  be  guned  from  the  aetion  ot  a  candidate 
for  (deotion  to  the  board  of  aklmnen  in  aMaMaefaoaetta  tity.iiho  reoently 
■ecured  from  the  probate  court  authiHrity  to  «diange  his  name  so  that  it 
would  begin  with  the  first  letter  of  the  alphabet. 

*  A  digest  ot  these  kws  is  printed  in  Comparative  LetUatim  BulUHn, 
No.  23  ("CMTupt  Practioes  at  Elections  ").  issued  by  the  Wisconsin  Free 
library  Commisdon  in  1811.  See  aiao  the  Report  of  (As  Commitnon  oa 
Latei  rdaling  to  .  .  .  Corruft  Praelieea  oi  EUctioiu  made  to  the  Generml 
AetemUy  of  ConaceMna  (Bri^pipuU,  1907). 


MUNICIPAL  NOMINATIONS  AND  £LCon'IO\'B       151 

may  be  received,  designating  the  purpo8t«  for  which  mch 
funds  may  be  spent,  and  requiring  publicity  in  both  cases. 
Not  infrequently  they  forbid  the  taking  of  contribt^tions 
from  corporations.    As  to  purposes  for  which  funds  may  be 
spent,  the  laws  sometimes  set  forth  a  lirt  of  things  which  may 
not  be  paid  for,  as,  for  examr!^   ■onveyances,  hired  can- 
vassers, and  the  treating  of  vot.         ;  other  cases  th^  name 
in  detail  the  objects  for  which  no-  -y  may  legitimately  be 
used,  as  printing,  rent  of  halls,  travelling,  etc.,  and  forbid 
it  to  be  spent  for  any  other  purpose.    Special  restrictions 
are  sometimes  imposed  upon  advertising ;  in  several  states, 
for  instance,  all  campaign  advertisements  must  be  signed 
by  the  voter  who  causes  their  publication.    Some  states 
require    the    appointment    of    party    treasurers,    through 
whom  all  contributions  and  expenditures  must  be  made; 
and  the  practice  of  insisting  upon  the  filing  of  a  statement 
showing  all  the  receipts  and  expenditures  connected  with  an 
election  has  developed  rapidly  in  recent  years.    In  many 
cases,  to  be  sure,  statutes  have  proved  defective  or  have 
been  too  easily  evaded ;   but  they  have  nevertheless  done 
much  to  improve  the  tone  and  temper  of  elections,  both 
state  and  municipal.    Even  if  dishonest  and  unfair  practices 
at  American  city  elections  are  not  yet  wholly  thinp  of  the 
past,  the  situation  is  vastly  better  to-day  than  it  was  two 
decades  ago. 

RmBiNcm 

The  moat  mofltabto  adeeted  lirt  of  matcctob  niatinc  to  nomiaatliic 
method!  is  that  given  in  the  ^niendix  of  C.  E.  MwriMi'i  /Vimory  Aao- 
tioy  (2d  ed..  Chio^o,  180Q).  Thia  volume  alao  eontains  u  adminUe 
rtaimrf  <rf  the  whtde  anbjeet.  Specif  mention  dioald  alao  be  made  of 
O.  D.  Luetaoher'a  Eariy  PeHtieal  Jfoekuury  in  ths  Vnittd  StatM  (Phil*- 
delphia,  1908);  P.  W.  DalUnier'a  Nominatbnu  far  BUctim  O/tca  in  M« 
Vmt^  Suam,mtm  Yorit.  1897) ;  and  B.  C.  M^y.r'a  ffomimUint  SftUm, 
(Ata^aon,  1902).  Refenneea  to  laws  that  l»ve  bees  paraed  sinee  theae 
booka  were  written  may  be  found  in  the  quarteriy  anmmariea  of  oumnt 
hVialatkm  i»inted  in  the  ^IfMriooa  PoKHeat  Seitnet  Aotmw.    The  fiaperf 


1S2 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


ti  &M  JciM  CommitUt  <tf  Ih*  StnaU  and  AueuMy  oj  tkt  StuU  of  Ntv  York 
(Albuy,  1010)  emiUiiu  »  gnat  deal  of  intwwtine  evkieiiw  in  rariaid  to 
the  WOTUng  of  nominating  ■ystons  in  rweiauM  lUtes,  •Ithougli  Um  And* 
inga  of  the  oommittee  bear  obvioiM  marlci  of  unfalmeM.  A  group  of 
inteneting  vtiolee  on  direet  ]»-inuriea  appennd  in  the  umunl  ProcMd- 
inga  of  the  American  PoUtioal  Soienoe  Anooiation  for  1010;  and  atten- 
tion ihould  be  called  to  ProfewKv  Ford'i  thmightfol  enay  on  the  direet 
primary  in  the  North  Amtriean  Renew  tat  July,  1900.  See  alao  the 
volume  entiUed  StUtUd  Artidn  on  Direet  Prtmariea,  ed.  C.  E.  IVnning, 
in  the  Debaten'  Handbook  Sniee  (Minneapolis,  1011). 

On  the  registration  of  voters  and  the  machinery  ot  municipal  riectioHS, 
the  following  are  us^ul  sources  <rf  infcwmation :  O.  W.  MeCrary,  Treatiee 
on  the  American  Law  of  ElteHon*  (Chicago,  1897) ;  CI.  Bish^,  /history 
of  BUetiont  in  the  American  Coloniee  (Now  York,  1803) ;  J.  H.  Vngmore. 
Autralian  Ballot  System  (Boston,  1880) ;  R.  S.  ChOds,  Short  Ballot  fWw 
dpUt  (Boston,  1011);  P.  L.  Allen,  "Ballot  Laws  and  their  Woikii«s," 
In  PoUHcal  Science  Qvarterly,    XXL  38;    Arthur   Lndingtmi,    "Ballot 
Laws  in  the  United  States,"  in  American  PoliHeal  Science  Renew,  IIL 
282;  C.  A.  Beard.  "The  Ballot's  Bnrdeu."  ibid.,  XXIV.  580;  and  R.  M. 
Hull,  "Preferential  Voting  and  How  it  Works,"  in  National  Munif^pal 
Renew,  I.  38^-400  (July,  1012 ;  printed  in  somewhat  diflwent  fonn  in 
TwenHeA  Century  MagaHne,  v.  40-M,  Afwil,  1012).     Some  interest- 
ing diseusrions  of  balh>t  laws  and  otnmpt  practices  at  eleeti<»s  an 
reprinted  in  C.  L.  Jones's  Readinge  on  Partiet  and  Bleetione  (New  Tork, 
1012),  206-334.    On  the  safeguards  afainst  eoRupt  and  illagal  pra»- 
tiees  at  eleeti(Nis,  a  summary  of  legislation  and  a  Uat  of  books  daal- 
fng  with  the  subjeot  are  givra  in  the  bulletin  of  the  Wiseuiiin  Wnt  li- 
brary C(Hnmission  on  "Comipt  Phwtiees  at  Elections"  (Fefaraaiy,  1011). 
Much  information  may  also  be  found  in  Report  of  the  Commieaion  oh  laws 
raioMiHt  to  .  .  .  Corrupt  PraeUcee  ot  BUetiont  made  to  the  Oenerol  Aeotm- 
Uy  of  ConnecHaU,  January.  1007.    The  parent  Engjidi  law.  with  aotoa 
and  commoitB,  is  in  B.  A.  JeVs  Corrupt  and  niegal  Practieee  /VsrsnMon 
Act*  <tf  188S  and  189S  (3d  ed.,  Lowbm.  lOOS);  and  a  diMosmm  of  the 
way  in  which  the  English  vysteot  operates  may  be  found  in  A.  L.  LowiQ'a 
Goeemment  of  Bntfand  (2  vols..  New  York,  1006).    The  gwietal  snbjeet 
ot  sinistw  practices  in  Ameciean  polities  is  dealt  with  oonpttiiensively 
In  Profeasw  R.  C.  BakAb's  CorruptioH  in  Ameriean  PoUtict  amd  Lffe 
(New  Yodt,  1011). 


C5HAPTER  vn 

MUNICIPAL  PARIIBB  AND  POUnOi 

Havino  considered,  in  the  two  preceding  chapters,  the  PbUtM 
way  in  which  the  electorate  is  constituted  and  the  channels  •'**^ 
through  wWch  it  puts  forth  its  power,  one  encounters  the 
task  of  discussing  an  important  branch  of  municipal  science 
that  is  not  by  any  means  so  weU  understood,  —  namely, 
the  system  whereby  groups  of  voters  seek  to  make  them- 
■elves  the  exponents  of  the  whole  electoral  will.    These 
group  organisations,  or  poUtical  parties,  serve  not  only  to 
afford  rallying-grounds  for  voters  who  share  the  same  gen- 
eral opinions,  but  also  to  provide  centripetal  forces  in  the 
moulding  of  public  policy.    All  sound  and  sUUe  repre- 
■entative  government  is  party  government.    Were  it  not, 
mdeed,  for  the  focussing  influence  of  partisan  organisation, 
whether  in  nation,  state,  or  dty,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
formuUte  clear  poUcies,  or  to  develop  real  responsibiUty, 
or  to  estoblish  sound  traditions  of  government. 

The  division  of  citisens  into  rival  parties  is  a  natural  wiv«v 
outcome  of  the  simple  fact  that  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  ' 
body  politic  they  do  not  aU  think  alike,  or  yet  all  think  dif- 
ferently. If,  they  did  either  of  these  things,  poUtical  parties 
could  not  exist.  Whatever  his  opinions  on  pubUc  questions, 
a  man  will  always  get  some  of  his  fellows  to  agree  with  him ; 
and  the  more  meritorious  his  opinions,  the  larger,  presumably, 
will  be  the  company  in  which  he  finds  himself.  PolH  ^paiw 
ties  are  merely  groups  of  partisans,  of  men  who  think  alike, 
or  profess  to  think  aUke,  upon  questions  of  the  day.  They 
»»  the  sects  of  statecraft.    It  is  through  them  that  indi- 

188 


IM 


OOVKRNMKNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITU» 


IdmtiAw- 

tioBOf 

poUtiMd 
pwtiaaia 
th*  varVMH 

lOf 


BffMtoof 
thkidmti- 


vidual  opinions  are  combined  into  a  political  conaensua. 
In  thia  alone  liea  their  explanation  and  their  justification. 

Since  parties  are  built  upon  variety  and  unity  of  political 
opinion,  they  should  be,  and  usually  profess  to  be,  related 
to  issues  of  public  policy.  And  since  such  questions  are  not 
the  same  in  the  three  realms  of  government,  national,  state, 
and  municipal,  the  logical  outcome  of  partisan  philosophy 
would  be  the  evolution  of  three  sets  of  political  parties,  each 
adjusting  itself  to  the  issues  of  its  particular  realm.  Such 
is  not  the  actual  situation,  however.  The  voters  of  the 
United  States  have  ranged  themselves  into  two  or  three 
great  groups  which  retain  their  cohesion  in  all  spheres  of 
government,  irrespective  of  the  fact  that  the  problems  in  one 
sphere  have  no  relation  to  those  in  another.  In  the  American 
city,  therefore,  the  voters  are  cleft  into  groups,  not  by  any 
local  point  of  difference,  but  by  a  line  of  cleavage  drawn  down 
from  the  politics  of  slate  and  nation.  It  is  this  identifica- 
tion of  party  lines  in  state  and  city  that  has  demoralised 
municipal  politics  almost  everywhere  by  preventing  the 
voters  from  getting  face  to  face  with  issues  that  concern 
their  own  immediate  neighborhood. 

The  municipal  party  organization,  accordingly,  can  rarely 
be  studied  in  isolation ;  it  is  usually  no  more  than  one  of  the 
wheels  in  the  greater  partisan  machine  which  operates  in 
■tate  politics.  This  subordination  of  city  to  state  in  the 
machinery  of  party  organization  is,  so  far  as  its  effects  go, 
a  flagrant  violation  of  the  doctrine  of  municipal  home  rule ; 
and  its  results  have  been  more  pernicious  to  city  administra- 
tion than  many  of  those  legislative  infringements  upon  civic 
autonomy  against  which  municipal  politicians  cry  out  so 
lustily.  Indeed,  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  those  city  politicians 
who  are  most  uncompromising  in  their  opposition  to  legisla- 
tive interference  in  city  affairs  are  the  very  ones  who  oft«i 
submit  most  tamely  to  the  domination  of  municipal  politics 


MUNICIPAL  PARTIES  AND  POLITICS  i55 

by  a  state-party  machine.    Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  luwiMfc. 
one  form  of  outside  domination  haa  ar=,  little  juatification  aa  ^J^^!^ 
the  other.     The  intimacy  which  lo  oftta  exists  between  the  »«* 
party  organizations  in  state  and  city  means  almost  inevi- 
tably that  adherents  of  the  party  in  the  city  are  exploited 
for  the  advantage  of  the  party  in  the  state ;  or,  if  the  spoiU 
which  become  avaUable  through  the  control  of  city  govern- 
ment be  greater  (as  is  the  case  in  cities  like  New  York, 
Chicago,  and  Philadelphia),  the  situation  will  be  reversed 
and  the  interests  of  the  party  in  the  state  wiU  be  sacrificed. 
Wherever  the  spoils  of  victory  promise  to  be  in  greater 
abundance,  there  the  energies  of  the  two  machines  will  b« 
concentrated. 

As  a  means  of  remedying  this  evil  three  plans  have  been  M.tbodioi 
tned.    Some  cities  have  sought  to  get  rid  of  aU  party  or-  S^ISlZ 
ganization  in  municipal  poUtics.    To  this  end  they  have  ^'^ 
abolished  the  poUtical  convention  and  the  party  primary,  *"*** 
substituting  either  the  nonpartisan   primary  or  nomina- 
tion  by  petition.    They  have  Ukewise  removed  aU  desig- 
nations from  the  election  baUot,  and  have  tried  to  destroy 
the  chief  props  of  partisan  rivalry  by  putting  municipal  t  AboiWoo 
offices  under  civil-service   rules   and   by  taking  contract  i^^Jbi 
awards  out  of  the  realm  of  poUtical  influence.    AU  this  has  **^*~*^ 
served  to  weaken,  if  it  has  not  destroyed,  the  hold  of  organi- 
zations upon  the  electorate.    But  it  may  well  be  asked 
whether  attempts  to  abolish  aU  electoral  organization   in 
municipal  poUtics  do  not  result  from  a  faUure  to  reaUze  the 
true  function  of  parties  and  the  real  service  which  properly- 
based  political  associations  can  render  to  the  community. 
To  formulate  and  to  set  before  the  whole  electorate  opinions 
that  are  held  in  common  by  a  portion  of  it,  to  impress  the 
merit  of  these  opinions  by  concerted  effort  upon  the  whole 
body  of  voters,  to  afford  a  means  whereby  responsibnity 
for  a  poUcy  shall  be  borne  in  common  by  aU  who  advocate 


156 


OOVIIINMBNT  or  AMIRICAN  CITIBI 


t.  CMatioa 

oTatfietir 

muaieipal 


it,  — theM  AppeMT  to  be  the  true  functions  of  •  political 
pwty,  and  they  are  aervieea  needed  in  the  city  quite  aa  much 
as  elsewhere.  So  long,  therefore,  as  there  are  opinions  to 
be  fo-iuUted,  ends  to  be  aohieved  in  concert,  and  respon- 
Mbiiities  to  be  effectively  shouldered,  we  are  not  Ukely  to  get 
rid  of  the  best  agencies  yet  devised  for  accomplishing  theae 
results.*  To  suggest  that  the  American  munieipal  voter 
can  best  perform  his  civic  duties  without  codperation  and 
guidance  is  to  disregard  the  plain  fact  that  his  need  for 
both  these  things  was  never  so  pressing  as  it  is  to-day,  by 
reason  of  the  complex  nature  of  the  task  which  he  is  asked 
to  perform  at  the  polls  in  passing  upon  measures  as  well  as 
upon  men. 

Taking  it  for  granted  that  the  forces  which  make  for 
organised  electoral  action  are  not  likdy  to  grow  weaker,  au  J 
that  parties  of  some  sort  wiU  therefore  probably  keep  com- 
ing into  action  no  matter  what  formal  changes  may  be  made 
in  municipal  machinery,  other  cities  have  undertaken  to 
encourage  the  development  of  strictly  municipal  partiee 
which  relate  their  propaganda  solely  to  local  questions  and 
have  at  most  only  an  incidental  connection  with  the  party 
organisations  of  state  or  nation.    This  is  a  poUcy  which 
■eems  on  its  face  to  be  not  only  logical  but  easily  carried  to 
Buccess.    Few  men  will  quarrel  with  you  when  you  urge 
that  there  is  no  reasonable  connection  between  local  and 
state  issues,  and  that  to  drag  the  latter  into  the  arena  of 
municipal  poUUcs  serves  no  useful  purpose  in  either  fieU 
of  government.    Nor  will  you  provoke  dissent  by  asserting 
that,  because  a  political  party  enunciates  in  its  pUtform 
sound  canons  of  poUcy  concerning  the  tariff  or  the  currency, 
It  thereby  acquires  no  right  to  control  the  appointment  of 
police  commissioners  or  the  award  of  municipal  contracts. 


'  M.  R.  Msltbie,  "MunieiiMa  Politieal  Partial,' 
Natioiua  MunMfwl  Lmcm,  1900,  pp.  226-238. 


ia  Pnet»ding$  of  tte 


MUNICIPAL  PARTm  AND  POLITICS  1^7 

The  wiMrt  difpodtlon  of  pur  ly  municipal  qiMwtions  e«ii 
come  only  from  «  coiwidenitiors  of  th*  faoton  direotly  in- 
volved,  and  matt«n  of  mitio»l  poUtm  aro  not  involved 
even  remotely.    On  aU  the*,  tiring,  meet  men  are  agreed; 
yet  agreement  in  the  premiaee  haa  not  served  to  bring  about 
very  much  in  the  way  of  remit..    There  have  been  strictly 
mumdpal  partie.  in  American  oitie.  from  time  to  time.    In 
•  later  chapter  Mmething  i.  mid  concerning  their  achieve- 
ment.  and  faUure.,  but  more,  unfortunately,  about  the 
latter  than  the  former.*    Such  pwtie.  have  been  .poradie 
m  appearance,  and  rarely  have  wrvived  a  Mcond  municipal 
campaign.    Coming  into  the  field  of  municipal  poUtin  with 
much  ado  and  clatter,  they  have  umially  gathered  to  them- 

Mlve.aU  the  element,  ot  local  diwontent,  and  not  uncom-  ^ 

monly  have  acquired  thereby  mifScient  mcmientum  to  wat  JS"* 
then-  candidate,  in  office.    Sut  the  unity  of  malcontent,  i.        "^^ 
precanoua.    Since  the  new  party  can  hold  it.  divert  ele- 
ment, only  by  »ti.fying  aU,  it  i.  «ire  to  find  the  enmiing 
factional  discord  fatal  to  the  lueeeM  of  it.  candidate,  rt 
th.  next  olectio ,.    A  new  party,  whatever  the  principle 
V  -:>',   ..  ]  h  rt  is  \md,  Carrie,  a  further  handicap :  it.  plat- 
fc  n^  or  i»r  sTamme  murt,  if  it  i.  to  gain  the  pubUc  ear  and 
att.   t.ci,.  .ontain  Mme  rtriking  featui*.  not  to  be  found 
m  tli€  inform,  of  the  existing  p.vfie..    But  mort  thing. 
^  are  fearible  and  at  the  a.nc  time  popular  have  ah«ady 
been  6 -thered  mto  thejie  programme,  by  the  du«wd  men 
who  formul  ted  them.    Accordin^y,  the  new  party  i.  ceiw 
tarn  to  ». :.  t  out  with  a  lirt  of  aim.  which,  if  popukr,  are 
not  practirable,  or  if  practicable  are  not  popular.    Being 
made  up  chiefly  of  men  who  have  rtrong  view.  a.  to  what 
w  nj^t  and  wrong,  it  i.  apt  to  have  a  rigid  and  uncom- 
promwmg  pUtfonn  which  too  oftm  repeb  by  it.  vigor  and 
mtenaty  of  expnul   .,  thereby  offwtting  what  it  gain,  by 
'  8m  bdow.  (A.  sir. 


158 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


NewpMtiM 

areshort- 

lived. 


m 


EmopMui 


its  appeal  to  the  local  patriotism  of  voters.  Each  charter 
member  of  a  aew  municipal  party  is  more  likely  than  not  to 
be  wedded  to  some  specific  reform  which  has  become  a 
hobby  with  him,  and  which  he  will  ride  into  the  party  plat- 
form if  he  can.  The  new  programme  thus  becomes  too  often 
an  odd  mosaic  of  individual  fads,  many  of  which  are  stire 
to  prove  utterly  irreconcilable  in  actual  operation. 

These  two  features  —  the  inharmonious  nature  of   the 
elements  that  ordinarily  constitute  the  nucleus  of  a  new 
municipal  party,  and  the  almost  inevitable  shortcomings 
of  the  programme  which  it  formulates  —  do  not,  of  course, 
prevent  the  frequent  appearance  of  such  parties,  nor  do  they 
always  prevent  the  party's  initial  success  at  the  polls.    They 
do,  however,  preclude  sustained  success,  and  they  explain 
in  large  measure  why  the  mortality  rate  among  municipal 
parties  is  so  high.    To  speak  after  the  manner  of  actuaries, 
the   so'TOal   expectation  of  life  among  such  parties,  as 
based  upon  a  wealth  of  experience  during  the  last  quarter- 
eentui^-   w  jot  more  than  a  half-dosen  years  at  most,— 
an  inevitable  result,  so  long  as  these  organizations  acquire 
at  birth  the  germs  of  their  own  speedy  dissolution.    Al- 
thougu  such  imperfections  may  not  on  their  face  seem  to  be 
ineradicable,  yet  in  attempts  to  remove  them  no  country 
h      ichieved  any  permanent  success.    Throughout  Europe, 
notwithstanding  a  current  American  idea  to  the  contrary, 
national  and  municipal  party  lines  are  almost  everywhere 
identified.    Nowhere  in  France  or  Germany  have  the  nar 
tional  parties  been  definitively  ousted  from  city  politics. 
In  England  there  are  nominal  instances  of  strictly  municipal 
parties,  but  very  Uttle  study  is  sufficient  to  show  that  th^ 
are  not  such  in  reality.    The  most  notable  example  is  af- 
forded by  Ix>ndon,  where  two  ostensibly  local  parties  known 
as  Progressives  and  Reformers  have  divided  the  allegiance 
of  the  voters  by  presenting  to  them  two  party  programmes 


MUNICIPAL  PARTIES  AND  P0UTIC8 


159 


built  upon  local  ianies.  But  every  Londoner  knows  that 
the  Progressive  party  is  made  up  mainly  of  Liberab  and  that 
most  of  the  Reformers  are  Conservatives.  There  is  of  course 
no  exact  coincidence  of  national  and  local  party  lines,  but 
there  is  a  fair  approximation  to  that  situation.'  The  char- 
acteristic feature  of  London  politics  is  not  the  existence 
of  strictly  rauuicipal  parties,  but  rather  the  prominence 
given  in  local  elections  to  local  issues,  and  the  readiness  of 
the  voter,  whatever  his  party  affiliations,  to  be  guided  by  a 
candidate's  qualifications  and  record  rather  than  by  his 
professions  and  promises. 

Apart  from  the  various  obstacles  that  stand  in  the  way  of  DiOeuitka 
regular  municipal  parties  as  steady  factors  in  city  affairs,  the  ^^**** 
entire  divorce  of  state  and  local  party  organizations  is  for  **•*• 
another  reason  diflScult  to  bring  about.  ITiis  reason  lies 
in  the  frequent  similarity,  and  even  identity,  of  state  and 
municipal  issues.  Were  the  American  city  master  of  its 
own  destinies,  this  identity  would  not  otUm  arise;  but 
under  the  present  system  of  unremitting  legislative  inter- 
ference in  municipal  matters,  problems  of  a  purely  local 
scope  are  too  often  settled,  not  at  the  city  hall,  but  at 
the  state  capitol.  This  means  that  even  when  a  municipal 
party  gets  control  of  the  city  government  it  does  not  always 
get  a  mastery  of  the  city's  policy ;  to  secure  the  hitter  it 
must  often  enter  stat »  politics  and  try  to  make  its  influence 
felt  in  the  legislature.  Some  years  ago  the  Citisens'  Union 
of  New  York  encountered  this  situation.  After  gaining 
control  of  the  city  government,  it  fotmd  itself  balked  in  its 

'  "In  Ixmdtm  Umm  divMoni  tend  t>.>  run  ekm  to  the  national  party 
oam :  for  alUiouch  a  Liberal  i»  not  always  a  Progranive,  or  a  ConMrvative 
alwayi  a  Moderate  (Reftniner],  and  a  member  of  one  national  party  may 
MtuaUy  stand  tm  the  eooneil  on  the  oppodte  iido,  etiU  the  two  lines  ooiit- 
oMe  on  the  whole  very  nearly,  and  the  party  otgaaiiations  I«id  their  aid 
I  ^iTf^  "*~*  '"  *''•  «>nt«t."  —  A.  L.  LowBLL.  Oavernment  of  Eng. 
fuMl,U.lM.    See  also  Monro's  Oorfm««U<|flfiir«peo»C»«M,  346-347. 


leo 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIB8 


The 

Cititww' 

UnkMi. 


efforts  to  cany  out  its  programme  by  an  unsympathetic 
state  legislature  at  Albany.    It  was,  accordingly,  forced 
to  choose  between  remaining  an  ineffective  municipal  party 
and  becoming  a  factor  in  state  politics.    To  pursue  the 
former  course  was  to  court  certain  defeat  at  the  next  elec- 
tion ;   to  follow  the  latter  policy  was  to  give  up  the  chief 
principle  upon  which  the  Citizens'  Union  was   founded. 
The  experience  of  other  cities  has  in  many  cases  been  sim- 
ilar.   City  and  state  functions  cannot  be  sharply  differenti- 
ated ;  neither  can  city  and  state  issues,  so  long  as  the  city 
is  the  creaturt  of  the  state.    From  the  nature  of  the  situa- 
tion a  certain  connection  between  state  and  municipal  party 
organisations  is  likely  to  continue,  whether  we  approve  of 
it  or  not.    If  independent  municipal  parties  could  be  es- 
tablished and  maintained  in  successful  existence,  some  city 
would  probably  have  given  us  a  good  example  before  now. 
American  municipal  experience  has  been  prolific  of  such 
parties,  but  none  have  lived  long  enough  to  prove  that  the 
natural  obstacles  are  surmountable. 

The  thud  plan  for  diminishing  the  evils  which  commonly 
result  from  the  identification  of  state  and  municipal  parties 
thepKH*'"  ^^^^  '^6  fo™*  of  an  attempt  to  induce  the  chief  political 
•j;j^»«oi  parties  to  adopt  special  pUtforms,  or  parts  of  pl-forms, 
vttim.        deaUng   with    local    issues.      Such    endeavors   are  logical 
enough.     If  the  state  organization  feels  that  it  cannot  afford 
to  keep  clear  of  municipal  poUtics,  it  ought  in  fairness,  we 
are  told,  to  give  city  affairs  their  proper  share  of  atten- 
tion in  the  party  programme.    And  this  it  has  of  late  been 
somewhat  iaelined  to  do.    The  announcement  of  a  party's 
policy  on  important  local  matters  Uke  pubUc-service  fran- 
chises, municipal  home  rule,  civil-service  reform,  license  regu- 
lations, and  so  forth,  is  coming  to  be  a  prominent  feature  of 
state  platforms :  and  it  is  likely  to  become  even  more  promi- 
nent as  time  goes  on  and  as  urban  problems  grow  to  be  of 


3.  Inwr. 
pontion 
ol  raunici- 
paliMuai 
the  pro- 


BfUNICIPAL  PARTUS  AND  POLITICS 


161 


greater  interest  to  the  whole  people.    It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  friends  of  better  city  government  should  spend  their 
energies,  not  in  a  futile  attempt  to  abolish  all  political 
parties,  or  in  efforts  to  drive  a  wedge  into  the  hierarchy  of 
party  organisation,  but  in  an  earnest  endeavor  to  gain  for 
municipal  issues  a  proper  recognition  in  state  platforms.* 
Such  a  pUn,  it  is  urged,  has  all  the  advantages  of  an  inde- 
pendent municipal-pp  ty  system,  with  none  of  its  great  diffi- 
culties.   This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  indq>endent 
organizations  should  not  be  encouraged  for  what  they  can  ac- 
complish.   To  win  one  election  and  lose  ^m  next  may  be  a 
modest  achievement,  but  it  is  betto*  than  tesiog  both.    The 
Citisens'  Union  of  New  York  got  but  a  short  lease  of  power, 
but  for  even  that  the  city  has  some  CMise  to  be  thankfid. 
The  independent  oHmieipal  party  earn  at  least  put  the  regular 
parties  on  thdr  mettle,  and  force  them  to  a  realisation  of  what 
the  community  wants  done.     After  all,  insurf^ncy  is  mora 
prolific  of  results  than  independence.    The  insurgents  within 
the  party  ranks  caa  usually  accomplish   more  than  the 
bolters  who  leave  the  ranks  to  conduct  a  guerilla  warfare  of 
their  own. 

Taking  the  cities  of  the  United  States  as  th^  are,  one  finds  -n- 
municipal  politics  to  be  featured  neither  by  an  absenee  of  all 
parties  nor  by  ihe  pronuarace  of  strictly  local  party  organi- 
sations. Ahnc9t  everywhere  the  regular  party  lines  are 
drawn,  if  not  always  ost4Bnsibly,  at  any  rate  in  fact.  It 
becomes  of  importance,  therefore,  to  understand  how  the 
parties  organise  themselves  for  work  in  city  elections,  what 
their  methods  are,  and  to  what  extent  they  earn  their  right 
to  be  caUed  " political  machines."  It  ought  to  be  mentioned, 
in  passing,  that  American  party  organisation,  whi^  from 
the  viewpomt  of  efficiency  is  perhaps  the  best  in  the  world, 

N»UooiU  MonieiiMa  Lasriw.  1900,  p.  23S.  -— .-r-      — 


^l_ 


162 


OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIS8 


party  or- 
gaiUMitioM. 


TlM 

Taamwiy 


reaches  its  acme  in  the  large  city.  There  the  machine 
actually  approaches  perfection  both  in  the  cle/er  adjust- 
ment of  all  its  parts  and  in  the  smoothness  with  which 
it  proceeds  to  the  production  of  results.  The  ph}rsiology  of 
American  party  politics  can  be  best  studied  by  an  examina- 
tion of  its  most  highly  developed  organism,  the  political 
machine  of  a  large  city. 

The  framework  of  party  organization  is  not  everywhere 
alike.    The  party  in  each  city  has  its  own  mechanism, 
which,  however,  differs  little  from  place  to  place,  especially 
in  general  methods.    In  New  York,  for  example,  the  unit  of 
party  organization  is  the  assembly  district,  that  is  to  say, 
the  area  which  sends  a  representative  to  the  lower  branch 
of  the  state  legislature.    In  the  boroughs  of  Manhattan 
and  the  Bronx  there  are  thirty-five  of  these  districts.    In 
each  district  the  Democratic  voters  choose  delegates  to  a 
general  committee,  which,  since  there  is  one  delegate  for 
every    twenty-five    voters,    has    about    7000    members.^ 
Bemg  too  large  to  do  any  executive  work  properly,  it  vests 
its  real  functions  in  an  executive  committee  of  thirty-five 
members, — each  usually  the  leader  of  an  assembly  district, — 
with  certain  ex-officio  members.    This  body  actually  controls 
the  policy  of  the  party.    It  is  at  once  the  regular  Democratic 
machine  and  the  political  organ  of  Tammany  Hall.    The 
latter  institution,  so  long  a  factor  in  New  York  politics  and 
now  dominant  on  the  Democratic  side  of  them,  has  a  history 
of  over  a  century.    Originally  a  social  and  charitable  society, 
it  soon  developed  political  interests,  and,  making  headway 
against  less  effective  party  groups,  in  time  obtained  its  pres- 
ent primacy  in  Democratic  circles.' 

'Thia  gmicnl  committee  mi^taini  five  ttaadinc  eommitteea,  on 
oTKUtiution.  finuice,  correspondenee,  luttanlisatioB  of  ftU«i  voters, 
and  printing,  reapeetively.  The  members  of  the  geaeml  etmunittee  from 
each  diatriet  alio  form  a  district  committee. 

'Further  information  eonearning  the  history  and  ortanisation  at 


MUNICIPAL  PABTIB8  AND  POLITICS  163 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  executive  committee  of  it. 
Tammany  iamade  up  of  tht  thirty-five  district  leaden.  Each 
leader,  besides  sharing  in  the  work  of  the  committee,  directs 
the  poUtical  work  in  his  own  district  and  is  the  head  of  the 
distnct  organisation.    For  the  more  effective  handling  of 
campaign  tasks  the  election  district  or  voting  precinct  is 
used  as  a  unit  of  local  organization.     It  is  one  of  the 
duties  of  the  district  leader  to  appoint  a  captain  for  every 
polling-precinct  in  the  district,  and  there  are  weU  over 
1000  such  precincts  in  the  two  boroughs.    Each  captain 
has  a  smaU  corps  of  workers,  and  is  held  strictly  accounta. 
ble  for  getting  the  voters  registeml  and  for  seeing  that  the 
vote  comes  out  on  election  day.     Such  is  the  framework 
of  official  organisation.    Potentially  the  supreme  control  of 
the  party's  interests  rests  with  the  general  committee  of 
nearly  7000  delegates  chosen  by  the  voters.    In  practice 
thirty-five  assembly  district  leaden,  supported  by  the  host 
of  general  committeemen  in  each  district  and  the  hundreds 
of  precinct  captains  and  workers,  assume  the  real  direction 
of  the  election  campaigns. 

Supplementary  to  this  organisation,  and  a  very  important  TUf^r 
mfluence  in  promoting  its  strength,  are  the  scores  of  os-  '"""" 
tensibly  social  bodies  which  form  centres  of  party  propa- 
ganda in  every  district  of  the  city.  These  associations 
commonly  rank  as  clubs,  and  each  has  its  own  distinctive 
name.  Each  has  its  regular  rendesvous,  usuaUy  a  smaU 
hall  or  suite  of  two  or  three  rooms  in  a  central  location. 
Sometimes  there  is  also  a  room  for  billiards  and  other  games, 
and  m  some  cases  the  club  holds  a  license  to  serve 
hquors  to  its  own  members.  In  these  quarters  the  members 
gather  frequently  in  a  close  personal  intimacy,  and  attend 

P«ww  {N«r  York.  1899).  oha.  Iv.-vi.,  Mtdin  Oiutavui  Myer'.  Hilon  of 
Tammanif  HaU  (New  York,  1901).  "^tfory  v 


larctailM. 


164 


OOVERKMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITBn 


The  vo- 

fadieetuba. 


t 


,^ 


ThePhi^ 
delphia 
■yatom.  ' 


to  the  interests  of  the  party  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
in  which  the  club  is  located.  A  spirit  of  partisan  loyalty 
is  thus  fostered  through  the  channels  of  everyday  friend- 
ship. When  necessary,  these  clubs  are  financed  from  above ; 
for  the  leaders  of  the  pMty  well  understand  their  value  k  an 
election  campaign. 

Along  with  theae  mere  or  less  permanest  assoeiations 
are  the  sporadic  paittieal  clubs  that  come  into  beiog  a  month 
or  so  before  the  election  and  disappear  as  aotm  as  the  contest 
is  over.  These  likewise  are  social  in  outer  guis>e,  but  purely 
political  in  motive.  Thiy  are  composed  of  groups  of  yotmger 
voters  who  are  for  the  most  part  abeady  personal  friwids 
or  acquaintances,  but  who  find  in  the  approaching  dection 
an  opportunity  to  enjoy,  for  the  time  bong,  a  (riace  of 
rendezvous  with  occasional  distributiims  of  Uqaan  aad 
cigars  at  no  cost  to  themselves.  A  small  hall  is  |Hx>eured, 
and  is  fitted  up  with  chairs  and  table ;  smoke-talks  by  minor 
fry  among  the  party  leaders  are  announced ;  atray  voters 
are  corralled  and  brought  into  nominal  monbenriiip;  and 
the  necessary  neighborhood  enthusiasm  for  the  party  slate 
is  manufactured  by  an  occasional  parade  with  a  band  and  red 
fire.  To  some  extent  these  fly-by-night  clubs  may  ren- 
der political  service  equivalent  in  value  to  the  funds  which 
they  draw  from  the  party  treasury;  but  on  the  whole  they 
are  not  regarded  as  very  profitable  adjuncts  to  the  party 
organization.  In  many  cases  they  are  little  more  than 
agencies  for  extracting,  either  from  candidates  or  from  the 
organiiation,  enough  mon^  to  keep  in  good  humor  a  lot 
of  political  rounders  whose  votes  wotdd  be  had  anyway. 
New  York  is  not  unique  in  the  possession  of  these  groups ; 
they  abound  in  all  large  cities  at  election  time. 

In  Philadelphia  the  system  of  party  organisation  is  not 
widely  different  from  that  in  New  York.  Here,  however,  the 
unit  of  organisation  is  not  the  legisUtive  district,  but  the  ward. 


MUNICIPAL  PARTUS  AND  POLITICS  1(J5 

There  ar«  forty-two  wards  in  Philadelphia,  but  each  waid 
has  several  polling-precincta  or  elecUon  districts,  amount- 
ing to  neariy  1100  in  all.     On  the  fimt  Tuesday  of  April  in 
each  year  a  caucus,  or  primaiy,  of  the  RepubUcan  voters  in 
each  precinct  b  caUed,  and  this  elects  a  president,  secretary, 
and  treasurer,  together  with  two  registration  officials.     TWs 
body  of  five  has  charge  of  the  local  interests  of  the  party  in 
the  matter  of  registering  voters.     Each  of  the  forty-two 
wards  has  a  RepubUcan  ward  committee  made  up  of  two 
delegates  from  each  precinct,  who  are  chosen  by  the  party 
voters  of  the  jwecinct  at  a  regular  primary  election.     The 
size  of  the  ward  committee  depends,  of  course,  on  the  number 
of  precmcts  in  the  ward,  which  ranges  from  ten  to  fifty  •  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  is  the  ward  leader.    The  super- 
vismg  organ  of  this  whole  system  is  the  central  city  commit- 
tee of  eighty-four  members,  composed  of  two  from  each 
ward  who  are  selected  by  the  ward  committees.    This  cen- 
tral body  has  practicaUy  final  jurisdiction  in  all  matter* 
affecting  partisan  regularity.    The  system  constitutes  a  real 
hierarchy,  therefore;  for  the  cenri-al  committee  has  juris- 
diction over  the  ward  committees,  and  the  latter  in  turn 
have  a  like  authority  over  the  precinct  organizations.    As 
the  ultunate  source  of  aU  authority  rests  in  the  Republican 
voters  at  tbe  primary,  the  fiction,  if  not  the  actuaUty,  of 
popular  orgamiation  is  thus  scrupulously  preserved. 

In  Boston  the  party  organisation  also  takes  the  ward  as  n» 
the  umt.  Once  a  year  each  of  the  twenty-six  waitls  of  the  ""'^ 
city  elects  its  respective  ward  committees,  the  enrolled 
members  of  each  party  receiving  ballots  upon  which  are 
printed  the  names  of  candidates  for  elettionjto  the  partv 
committee.  Each  ward  committee,  which  contains  one  men; 
ber  for  every  200  party  voters,  elects  its  chairman,  and  each  ia 
represented  upon  a  city  committee  made  up  of  a  delegate 
(usuaUy  the  chairman)  from  each  of  the  various  ward  Tm! 


166 


OOVKRNMKNT  OF  AMXRICAN  CITIia 


Variety 
•ad  unity 
inpwty 
orginiia- 
tion. 


mhtees.  The  city  committee,  in  turn,  chooses  its  chairman 
and  secretary,  both  of  whom  give  nearly  their  whole  time 
to  the  party  service  during  the  period  of  an  election  cam- 
paign. In  both  parties,  however,  the  efficiency  and  disci- 
pline of  the  organisation  has  bmn  greatly  weakened  by  the 
charter  amendments  of  1009,  which  substituted  nomination 
by  petition  for  nomination  by  party  primaries  in  the  case 
of  all  elective  city  officials,  took  party  designations  off  the 
ballots,  greatly  reduced  the  number  of  elective  posts,  and 
laid  many  effective  restrictions  upon  the  distribution  of  mu- 
nicipal patronage. 

Going  through  the  whole  list  of  larger  American  cities, 
one  would  find  that  party  organizations,  so  far  as  their 
relation  to  municipal  politics  is  concerned,  display  almost 
everywhere  the  same  characteristics.*  Each  organisation 
takes  the  form  of  a  p}rramid,  with  the  rank  and  file  of  par- 
tisan voters  forming  the  base.  These  delegate  their  powers 
to  a  large  group  of  ward  committeemen,  and  these  in  turn 
depute  their  authority  to  a  smaller  group  of  men  who  form 
an  executive  committee.  This  latter  committee  is  ostensibly 
a  responsible  body,  but  in  reality  it  is  not  so.  It  assumes  the 
plenary  powers  of  a  body  which  is  directing  the  tactics  of  a 
battle:  during  the  heat  of  an  election  campaign  there  is 
no  time  to  question  whether  the  party  leaders  are  ex- 
ceeding the  letter  of  their  powers.  Too  much  actual  democ- 
racy in  party  organization  does  not  make  for  machine-like 
precision;  accordingly,  much  that  has  the  externals  of 
popular  rule  is  in  effect  pure  autocracy.  If  the  party 
voters  would  come  out  to  the  caucuses  and  primaries  in  full 
strength,  the  situation  mi^t  be  different ;  but  for  the  most 
part,  and  under  normal  conditions,  these  gatherings  are 
more  freely  patronized   by  hide-bound  partisans  than  by 

«  See  Jesae  Macy,  Party  Organiaali«n  and  Machinery  (New  York,  1904), 
MpeciaUy  oh.  xvi. 


MUNICIPAL  PARTIIH  AND  POLITICS 


1«7 


voters  of  independent  tendenefet.  The  aubetitution  of  the 
primary  for  the  caucus  has  not  changed  the  caliber  or  the 
methods  of  ward  or  city  committees ;  it  has  merely  givm 
to  the  old  order  that  added  prestige  which  legal  rooognition 
of  its  status  implies. 

The  work  which  the  party  organisations  lay  out  to  do,  Woikaf 
and  in  large  measure  actually  perform,  is  eitenaive  and 
exacting.    It  does  not,  as  in  Europe,  all  fall  within  the  few 
weeks  which  precede  an  election ;  it  is  spread  over  the  whole 
year.    In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  task  of  getting  aliena 
naturalised,  so  that  their  names  may  ultimately  appear 
on  the  voters'  lists.    A  precinct  committee  which  does  its 
work  well  will  keep  careful  record  of  every  one  who  comes 
into  its  neighborhood,  and  will  proffer  its  help  freely  to  those 
who  seek  to  qualify  as  voters.    It  will  make  sure  that  all 
who  arc  likely  to  vote  right  are  duly  registered;   and  on 
polling-day  it  will  see  that  checkers,  watchers,  conv^ances, 
and  other  accessories  are  provided.     The  work  of  the  ward 
committee  is  of  somewhat  broader  scope.    Its  functions 
include  the  supervision  of  ward  headquarters,  its  chairman 
is  the  disburser  of  all  that  can  be  had  from  the  city  in  the 
way  of  patronage.'    Furtheitnore,  an  efficient  ward  organisar* 
tion  manages  to  keep  its  solicitude  for  the  voters  constantly 
before  their  eyes.    When  there  is  a  public  building,  play- 
ground, or  anything  of  the  sort  to  be  located  somewhere, 
the  ward  chairman  will  urge  the  claims  of  his  own  locality; 
when  there  are  appointments  to  be  made,  he  will  press 
for  a  share  on  behalf  of  candidates  from  his  own  ward ; 
if  there  are  any  favors,  official  or  unofficial,  to  be  distrib- 

« The  disbuning  of  pAtronage,  in  cnm«l.  ia  huidlad  aboat  m  fdlowi : 
The  ward  leader  (or  ehairmui)  keepa  for  hima^  and  hia  peraoiial  frienda 
aU  that  he  darea.  A  pwt  of  what  ia  left  goea  to  membwa  of  the  ward 
oommittee.  The  reat  ia  diatributed  outaide  thia  immediate  eirale  wher- 
evw  It  aeema  likdy  to  promote  the  ward  leader'a  atreogth  or  allay  oppo* 
aitiimtohim. 


I  mini 


TiMaMgr 


Th* 

Amarieui 
ptctniuiii  OB 
pwtjr 


leS  OOVBRNMIKT  OF  AMEBiOAS  CITUS 

oted,  the  ward  ehairaun  wfll  tee  that  they  go  when  thar 
wiU  do  the  mo»t  good.  During  the  eleetion  campaign  the 
committee  provide,  for  minor  raUiei  within  the  waid,  and 
atteKla  to  many  local  details  turned  over  to  it  by  the  central 
city  wmimittee. 

The  city  committee,  on  ite  part,  ii  the  general  boaidof 
■trategy.     But  ito  actual  functions  in  this  regard  are  usu- 
ally arrogated  by  a  smaU  clique  of  leaders  and  personal 
inends  of  the  chief  party  candidate,  not  aU  of  whom  may 
be  members  of  the  committee.    This  smaU  group,  with  the 
Mwrtance  of  the  whole  committee,  directs  the  general  party 
pohcy,  selecting  so  far  as  it  can  the  issues  that  are  to  be 
emphasised  and  usuaUy  handling  the  Uterature  of  the  earn. 
P«gn;  it  provides  the  press  service,  supplying  the  newa- 
papers  with  facUities  and  copy;  it  arranges  for  the  speaker! 
at   the  various  rallies;  and  it  superintends  the  coUecUon 
and  distribution  of  the  campaiini  funds.    Above  aU,  it  has 
direct  supervision  of  the  central  headquarters,  an  office  that 
becomes  the  pivotal  point  in  the  party's  acUvities.    A  great 
deal,  therefore,  depends  upon  the  men  who  make  up  this 
group,  and  particularly  upon  the  man  who  is  at  the  head 
of  it.    The  routine  of  a  municipal  campaign  is  much  the 
same  everywhere;   but  the  elFectiveness  of  this  routine 
work  hmgee  upon  the  popuUrity  of  the  issues  selected  for 
emphasis,  and  upon  the  energy  that  can  be  inspired  from 
headquarters. 

More  can  be  accomplished  in  American  cities  by  persistent 
political  industry  than  in  any  other  ciUes  of  the  world.  In 
England,  although  organisation  and  vigorous  effort  on  the 
eve  of  an  election  count  for  much,  the  fact  remains  that 
pubUc  sentiment  reacts  against  the  candidate  who  seems 
to  make  poUtics  his  profession.  Too  much  work  in  his 
behalf  is  apt  to  aUenate  voters.  In  America  there  seems  to 
be  no  such  danger.    The  more  enthusiasm  and  effort  that  a 


mmioiPAL  PARTm  ahd  pounoi 


iw 


oMididAte  Mid  hit  frienda  pat  into  a  Mmpaign  th«  better  the 
voters  Mem  to  like  it ;  henee  it  is  tboaglit  well  to  begin  ewly, 
to  prasi  the  party's  ekims  upon  the  attention  of  the  rotera 
without  a  moment's  let-up,  and  to  demonstrate  how  mueh 
energy  is  in  reserve  by  a  whirlwind  finish  on  the  eve  of  the 
election.  To  do  all  this  reqoiras  the  full  time  of  many 
persons  while  a  campaign  is  in  progress;  and  when  elections 
come  annually  such  persons  never  have  much  opportunity  for 
anything  but  poliUcal  work.  That  is  why  the  professional 
IM>Utician  finds  a  place  in  American  municipal  life.  To 
denre  the  end  is  usually  to  tolorate  the  means.  So  long  as 
public  opinion  relishes  the  expenditure  of  so  much  time  and 
energy  during  the  months  preceding  a  municipal  election, 
and  so  long  as  annual  deetions  continue  to  be  the  rule,  it 
ia  not  to  be  expected  that  politics  will  eease  to  be  a 
recognised  vocation. 

For  the  proper  performance  of  all  this  work  the  party 
organisation  needs  a  good  deal  of  money.  An  important 
office,  therefore,  is  that  of  treasurer  of  the  city  commit- 
tee. This  post  is  usually  given  to  some  man  who  has 
financial  standing  in  the  community,  and  who,  because  of 
his  business  connections  or  for  other  reasons,  is  able  to  get 
easily  into  touch  with  the  elements  that  are  likely  to  be  the 
most  generous  contributors  to  the  party  exchequer.  Prom 
the  treasurer's  office  circulars  soliciting  contributions  are 
sent  out  to  all  those  who  have  hdped  in  previous  campaigns, 
and  to  such  others  as  seem  likdy  to  prove  rasponsive.  This 
appeal  is  foUowed  up  by  personal  solicitations  either  on  the 
part  of  the  treasurer  himself  or  by  the  committeemen  who 
assist  him,  the  scope  of  the  canvass  depmding  upon  the 
urgency  of  the  need.  Funds  come  in  from  various  sources. 
The  candidate  himself  is  expected  to  contribute  substan- 
tially ;  in  fact,  the  amount  of  his  subscription  is  sometimes 
fixed  by  a  general  understanding  when  his  nominaUon  is 


nwMiof 


MKHOCOrV  MKMUTION  TBT  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


1.0 


1.1 


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l" 

l» 

"^ 

■^ 

Itt 

■  3^ 

■  2.2 

Ih 

■■■ 

lit 

■it 

Ib 

12.0 

1-25  II  1.4 


I 


1.8 


1.6 


/APPLIED  INA^OE    Inc 

1653  East  Moin   Street 

Rochester,  New  Tork        14609      USA 

(716)  482  -  0300  -  Phone 

(716)  288-S9S9-Fax 


170 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


arranged  for.    Members  of  the  party  who  are  already  in 
IT  Tucipal  office,  or  who  hold  paid  administrative  posts, 
are  also  ^pected  to  respond  generously;  and  they  usuaUy 
do  so.    The  current  notion  among  politicians  is  that  the 
man  m  office  should  prove  his  gratituae  to  those  who  put 
lum  there  by  contributing  UberaUy  from  his  pubUc  salaiy  to 
the  party  income.    Then  ther«  are  the  pubhc^rvice  coiw 
porations,  which,  even  when  prohibited  by  law  or  confronted 
by  legal  requirements  in  regard  to  the  pubUcation  of  cam- 
paign  contnbutions,   aknost    always   donate    freely,   and 
usually  without  favor,  to  the  funds  of  both  parties  when- 
ever the  strength  of  the  two  parties  is  sufficiently  weU- 
balanced  to  render  the  issue  of  an  election  at  all  in  doubt 
bmce  they  desire  privileges  from  the  city  government,  they 
feel  that  they  cannot  afford  to  antagonize  both  parties  by  re- 
fusmg  to  contribute  at  aU;  nor  are  they  willing  to  take  the 
chance  of  having  supported  the  losing  side,  as  might  be  the 
case  If  they  contributed  to  the  funds  of  one  party  only 
But  when  there  is  a  great  difference  in  strength  between 
the  two  parties,  the  stronger  gets  the  whole  contribution 
and  the  weaker  obtams  nothing  at  all.    Since  in  any  case 
aU  such  disbursements  come  ultimately  from  the  pubhc 
however,  and  not  from  the  corporate  stockholders,  the  policy 
of  forbidding  aU  such  contributions  has  been  growing  in 
favor  during  recent  years,  although  as  yet  these  prohibitions 
have  not   proved  proof  against   evasion.    Other  persons 
hkely  to  be  approached  by  the  party  treasurer  are  munici- 
pal contractors,  aspirants  to  appointive  offices,  holders  of 
hcense8,-aU  of  those,  indeed,  who  have  occasion  to  deal 
with  the  city  government  in  any  capacity.     All  such  are 
apt    to    feel    that   by  contributing  they  will    strengthen 
their  own  positions.    Finally,  there  are  always  manysub- 
scnbers  actuated  by  unselfish  motives,  who,  desiring  only 
the  success  of  that  party  in  whose  programme  they  be- 


MUNICIPAL  PARTIES  AND  POLITICS  171 

Keve,  contribute  as  to  a  pubUc  cause.    The  motives  of  men 
are  not  often  easy  to  fathom,  and  when  they  can  be  dis- 
covered  they  are  rarely  found  to  be  simple.    A  variety  of 
factors  usually  combine  to  make  one  individual  contribute 
and  another  refrain.    But  no  one  can  scan  the  published 
l^ts  of  contributors  without  being  impressed  with  a  feeling 
that  the  smews  of  party  conflict  are  furnished,  in  the  main 
by  those  who  are  fairly  close  to  the  organization  rather  than 
by  tho^  who  are  not  even  indirectly  connected  with  it. 
Much  of  the  money  that  comes  in  is  given  quite  voluntarily  ; 
more  of  it,  perhaps,  flows  in  under  varying  degrees  of  pressure, 
open  or  mipUed;  but  some  of  it  is  not  infrequently  the 
fmit  of  pure  bkckmaU,  levied  upon  office-holders  and  others 
who  dare  not  refuse  the  party's  demands 

Most  of  the  money  which  the  party  treasurer  can  bring  wi«,th. 
together  is  needed  for  purely  legitimate  routine  expenses!  ^ 
such  as  the  rental  of  city  and  ward  headquarters  and  of 
h^  for  raUies,  the  cost  of  advertising,  printing,  bill-posting, 
and  postage,  the  wages  of  clerks  and  stenographere,  pay- 
ments for  checkers,  watchers,  and  other  workers  on  polling- 
day,  the  hire  of  conveyances  to  bring  voters  to  the  polls, 
and  httle  appropriations  for  bands,  transparencies,  and  the 
other  acc^ries  of  party  dispby.    In  any  large  city  these 
Items  combme  to  foot  up  a  considerable  sum.    Some  of  the 
party  s  mcome  may  be  and  probably  is  spent  for  sinister 
purposes,  but  not  directly  from  headquarters.    It  is  cus- 
tomary, a  few  days  before  the  election,  to  give  to  each 
ward  or  district  leader  a  certain  sum  to  be  used  by  him 
and  his  committee  within  their  own  jurisdiction.    Much  of 
this  goes  to  employ  men  who  are  listed  in  the  subsequent 
return  of  expenditures  as  "messengers,"  but  who  in  reahty 
are  voters  to  whom  smaU  sums  (usually  five  doUars  each) 
are  paid  for  work  in  the  party's  interest  on  the  day  of  the 
election.    The  only  service  these  "messengers"  perform  is 


Thedi*- 
tiibutionof 


172  GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 

that  of  voting  right  themselves  and  perhaps  influencing  a 
fe^  fnends  in  the  same  direction.     The  practice  has  the 
externals  of  legitimacy,  but  much  of  the  money  spent  in 
this  way  If,  sheer  bribeiy.    To  put   the  whole  matter  in 
another  way,  one  might  say  that,  whUe  comparatively  httle 
of  the  party's  mcome  now  goes  for  purposes  that  are  clearly 
lUegitmiate,  a  considerable  part  of  it,  though  disbursed  for 
thmgs  which  are  ostensibly  within  the  law  (such  as  rentals, 
advertiamg,  services,  etc.),  is  invariably  spent  in  ways  that 
constitute  a  virtual  purchase  of  votes.    It  is  to  keep  such 
payments  within  proper  bounds  that  the  stringent  laws 
relatmg  to  election  expenditures,  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  have  been  pressed  to  enactment. 

But  it  is  not  through  the  possession  of  ample  funds  that 
ward  and  district  organizations  and  leaders  get  their  strength  • 
for  the  funds  at  their  command  are  not  ample.    ContranJ 
to  the  popular  impression,  the  ward  leader  has  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  the  year  veiy  Uttle  money  on  which  to 
keep  his  organization  aUve.    He  has  other  resources,  however, 
which  serve  his  ends  as  weU  or  even  better.    Chief  among 
these  IS  his  wide  range  of  patronage,  official  and  unofficial. 
In  the  days  before  civil-ervice  reform  laws  began  to  protect 
the  city  8  pay-roll  from  his  talons,  the  ward  boss  rewarded 
party  service  and  loyalty  by  gaming  positions  in  the  various 
municipal  departments  for  the  more  vaUant  of  his  supporters 
By  the  development  of  the  merit  system,  however,  this  field  of 
official  exploitation  has  been  steadily  reduced,  untU  in  many 
cities  It  no  longer  affords  the  ward  organizations  their 
hvehhood.    Recourse  has  accordingly  been  had  to  unofficial 
patronage ;  that  is,  to  the  securing  of  jobs  or  favors  for  party 
henchmen  from   public-service  corporations,  municipal  con- 
tractors, firms  that  sell  suppUes  to  the  city, -from  aU, 
mdeed,  who  have  anything  to  gam  from  the  ward  leader's 
support  or  anything  to  lose  by  his  opposition.    Street- 


MUNICIPAL  PABTIBS  AND  P0UTIC8  173 

raflway  companies,  gas  and  electric  companies,  contracton 
for  street  pavements,  and  so  on,  aU  bear  on  their  pay-rolls 
men  whose  services  to  them  are  largely  political;   and  the 
same  thmg  is  sometimes  done  by  banks  and  other  financial 
institutions  that  carry  the  city's  accounts  or  do  the  business 
of  those  pubUc-service  corporations  which  serve  the  city.» 
Ward  eaders  have  asked  that  these  men  be  employed,  and 
m  the  long  run  it  is  cheaper  to  comply  with  such  requests  -- 
so  long  as  a  leader  does  not  ask  too  much  -  than  to  fight  him 
m  the  city  councU  or  the  legislature,  in  each  of  which  he  is 
hkely  to  have  one  or  more  minions.    The  real  source  of  the 
ward  leader's  strength  lies  in  his  abiUty  to  do  substantial 
favors  for  his  adherents,  as  weU  as  in  the  number  of  reputedly 
honest  citizens  on  whom  he  may  depend  to  carry  out  his 
wishes. 

Unofficial  patronage  thus  runs  a  vicious  cirole.    The  n«Tto. 
ward  orgamzation  thrives  on  the  supineness  of  those  cor-  «":«»««" 
porations  and  individuals  who  seek  pubUc  favors;  the  "^ 
latter,  m  turn,  get  or  hope  to  get  what  they  are  after  by 
purchasing  political  support  in  this  way.    By  using  money 
the  corporations  get  men,  and  by  using  men  they  get  money. 
Hence  it  has  come  to  pass  that  taking  municipal  offices 
and  contracts  out  of  poUtics  has  not  appreciably  increased 
the  pohtician's  difficulty  in  maintaining  an  effective  organi- 
zation.   For  It  is  not  alone  the  office-holder  and  the  con- 
tractor  who  seek  to  benefit  by  the  favor  of  the  community. 
The  host  of  pubUc  utilities,  so  long  as  they  find  it  profitable 
to  supply  the  ward  leaders  with  a  substitute  for  those  official 
spods  which  the  laws  have  removed  from  their  grasp,  can 
iwrdly  be  otherwise  than  important  factoni  in  keeping 

thorough  ezamination  of  th«  tml^^rTl     •  *™^®'   *****  »  OMrful  and 
•ooeM  to  f  fcTuJIZ^  .      -      ■"*■  *™  «>nvMM»  any  one  who  oan  nia 


174  OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMBPrCAN  CITIES 

the  machine  suppled  With  motive  power.  There  ia  gcarcelv 
a  arge  city  in  the  United  States  which  has  not,  witlT^et 
«cent  yea«,  felt  the  demoraUzing  influence  of  politick 

funushed  at  their  behest  by  public^rvice  corporations  an^ 

nosucri'";'^"^'^'  ^e  system  is  one  which  creates 
no  such  popular  protest  as  did  the  old  practice  of  nourishing 
^e  par^y  orgamzation  by  the  distribution  of  city  offices  an5 

'ttmot'"'°;'*''^'^^^*^"^'*«-  For  that'^rery  reason 
It  w  more  msjdious  in  its  operation  and  more  dangerous  in  its 

^nrt.  "":':'  *'^  °^'  '^'^  ^«-  Political'dZ  wero 
contracted  and  discharged  in  full  view  of  the  electorate     Z 

new  circle  of  demoralization  runs  its  round  without  disclosing 
Itself  save  by  a  slight  flash  hce  and  there,  to  any  but  t^sf 
immediately  concerned.  ^  ^ 

S-^  conl^ct  of  tt  '1^  V"  ^^'^'^^  «^d  chicanery  in  the 
boss  and  upon  the  machme  of  which  he  operates  the  throttle  • 
and  most  of  it  has  doubtless  been  entirely  deserv^  i^t  the 
den^onciators  of  m,micipal  bossism  usu^  overSk  the  ,^ 

ods  of  the  boss  hmiself,  but  that  supine  element  in  the  com- 
m^^y  which  while  professing  abhoirence  for  him,  y^tTr- 
n^esmos  of  his  resources.  The  ward  boss  has  rlily  a^^ 
very  attractive  personal  traits.  UsuaUy  of  low  birth  litfl« 
education,  dubious  habits,  and  more  or  L  JoTe^^aiptt 

more  often  been  directed  at  him  than  at  the  conditions  which 

^^Aom^''^^^^''^^Vomc^poyrer.    Politic. 

for  tt,e  most  PatrioicXL^TSl^r^^l^tt'*'  "?  "^* 
oould.  transformed  into  a  .«i«i  «r«l«?^  «»P»ble,  he  has.  so  far  as  he 

buy  and  those  who  Sli^v^^ti^^o^r:^*'^^*^^*'""  "''^ 
tf  American  CtMw  (Sew  Y^^^)^^  ^'  ^■"°'<».  OovernmetU 


MUNICIPAL  PARTIES  AND  POLITICS  175 

clotT .  such  an  individual  with  power.^  It  seems  usuaUy  to  be 
forgo.ten  that  the  evolution  of  the  boss  foUows  the  Uw  oj 
natural  selection,  which  in  this  case  secures  the  sur,.  .  7thl 
man  who  is  most  resourceful  in  using  to  fuU  advantage  the 
conditions  that  he  finds  about  him.  To  gain  even  a  wIS 
leadership  and  to  hold  this  post  requires  indu«tnr,  persll^ 
ance,  and  no  end  of  shrewd  tactfuhiess.  A  sucT^^T^ 
boss  must  be  a  worker,  capable  by  his  example  of  h^p^^ 
others  to  simiUir  mdustry.  He  must  not  be  content^h 
doing  the  work  that  comes  to  him;  he  must  look  for  hS^ 

totet  htmtt""^*'  "^^  ^  ^°^  ^«--  ^- 
voters    he  must  mspire  requests  as  weU  as  grant  them 

Therefore  he  encourages  voters  to  come  to  him  fo^help  wh^ 

they  are  out  of  work  or  in  any  other  sort  of  trouble.    W^n^ 

voter  13  arrested,  the  waixi  or  district  leader  wiU  lend  h^ 

to  have  the  offender's  fine  paid  for  him.    Then  ther^  areT 
day-to^ay  favors  which  the  local  boss  stands  ready  to  do 

influence  vote«     These  services  camiot  be  even  recapitu- 
ostll^'l'    H?i"'r"*'"'^«^°"'    To  one  he  lends  mon^ 

buys  medicu-e  for  the  sick  and  helps  to  bury  the  dead     He 

ctresTwert'""^"*^'^*^^-^^"-''  — ast 
comes  in,  friends  known  and  unknown  gather  about  him,  and 
hetreats  eveiyoody.  He  is  the  only  one  who  does  ^t 
dnnk,  for  he  is  on  duty." «    Tested  by  his  acts,  the  boss  t 

(New  York.  IfiOO)?^^^  Gk)odnow'g  PoiiWc  o«i  AdministraHon 

^  M^Ostrogorsld.  Demo«^  «„rf  y^e  Party  SpOem  (New  York,  1910), 


IHHII 


Ks  power 


m  OOVIRNMBNT  Of  AMERICAN  CITIM 

chief  among  neighborhood  philanthropists;  judged  by  the 
motives  that  prompt  his  acts,  he  is  a  serpent  spreading 
the  shme  of  political  debauchery  over  whole  sections  of  the 
community.  With  the  submerged  tenth  (it  would  be  more 
accurately  termed  the  submerged  half)  of  a  great  dtv's 
popuktion,  however,  it  is  the  acts  and  not  the  motives  of 
men  that  weigh. 

But  it  is  not  alone  as  a  purveyor  of  favors  and  petty  pn- 
ferment  that  the  ward  leader  holds  his  sway.    He  is  also  a  dis- 
penser of  equaUy  petty  penalties  and  annoy    ces  among  those 
who  fail  to  truckle  to  his  wiU.    The  wa-   :    *ehich  he  holds 
the  whip-hand  over  the  keepers  of  sale  ^  and  other  pUces 
of  pubhc  resort  is  too  well  known  to  need  more  than  passing 
mention.     But  his  power  does  not  stop  there.     If  a  word 
from  the  boss  will  get  one  man  employment,  a  word  wiU  also, 
very  of^en,  procure  another  employee's  dismissal.    At  a  '  - 
from  him  the  small  shopkeeper,  thepedler,  the  pawnbroker,  the 
hackman,  can  be  worried  daily  by  the  police  or  by  the  health 
and  samtaiy  officials  of  the  city  on  baseless  or  imaginary- 
pretexts, -tactics  in  which,  as  the  histoiy  of  ahnost  every 
laige  city  shows,  the  machine  is  unrelenting  and  vindictive 
In  the  higher  walks  of  industry  and  trade  the  same  poUcy 
18  pursued  through  somewhat  different  channels.    There 
the  assessors  or  the  building  inspectors  or  some   othern 
«aong  the  dty's  hierarchy  of  officials  ai*  eg^^ed  on  against 
the  unfriendly.    The  merchant  first  learns  that  he  has 
offended  a  poUtical  leader  when  his  assessment  for  peraonal 
property  is  raised  to  the  legal  maximum,  or  when  he  is 
ordered  to  provide  additiomil  firo  appliances  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  some  half-forgotten  law,  or  when  the 
drivers  of  carriages  and  deUveiy  wagons  before  his  door  are 
annoyed  by  the  police  in  their  enforcement  of  the  city 
ordinances.    The  manufacturer,  again,  is  Uable  to  reap  the 
whirlwmd  of  his  recalcitrancy  in  petty  persecutions  for  the 


MUNICIPAL  PABTIE8  AND  POUflCS  I77 

technid  violation  of  Uwb  rektiog  to  the  employment  of 
mrnom,  or  to  overtime  labor,  or  the  like.    The  pSSTrvice 

:T^ti  ^*~'!  r^  ^^  "-trike'^^o^^ 
or  meaaures  that  are  framed  to  give  the  company  trouble 
and  wo^     So  expensive  i.  the  taak  of  fightTa  ZSe 

temptation  to  make  a  truce  with  it.  But  in  the  long  r^ 
a  pohcy  of  yielding  to  «,ch  p,«.u,e  i.  bound  to  p^^ 
more  expensive  still.  If  the  business  community  To^^^e 
brought  to  realise  that  peace  with  poUtical  bucU^  at 

ttr  °n  ^^  "  "°*  °^^  *^~*  P<»«*^«  »>»*  bad  b^« 

cal  boss  IS  m  evidence.    It  is  unceasingly  put  forth  toheln 

BuT  wh^^K    !    I  7^°  "  ''°'  '°'  **^^  ™^«  »  »«ainst  it 
ways  the  same,  --  namely,  the  patronage  which  it  can  either 

^wmL"  ^*^r'''    '^  P'*~^'  *^«  ramific^ot 

1  ^     "*",   "^^^  '^*'  *^  ^"'^  *°  thei'  end'  «  at  once 
ti;e  source  ofa  ward  leader's  power  and  the  w;apon  "th 

w  cn«h«  opposition.    Power  and  patronage  pro- 

v^-  -  .e  hard  to  break.    Each  keeps  the  other  intact. 

Lnu  "  ?  °'  °®'^  P**~"*««  ^  *»»«  ^o™  of  appoint- 
^^,  contracts,  and  so  forth  from  the  arena  of  poUti^h« 
^n  an  achievement  of  much  value ;  but  it  must^lwa^^ 
^membered  that  the  most  lucrative  spoils  are  noTT^i^ 

t^e  bT  1  ""X  '""^  *^*  P^^^  o^  *^«  P^bHc,  it  is 
true  but  not  as  spoils  of  partisan  conflict.    They  ai^  the 

pn^eges  which  citizens  and  corporations  may  rigSly^ll 

tiZ  w.?  ^"^  ^  ^^"^  ""***^  trouble  in  obtaLiing 
them.    With  this  triad  of  city  poUtics,  parties,  and  patron? 


178 


OOVIRNMINT  OF  AMBBICAN  CimS 


•ge  so  eloflely  linked  together,  reform  has  found  some  dif- 
ficulty in  choosing  its  point  of  most  effective  attack.    That 
the  most  vuhierable  spot,  however,  lies  not  so  much  in  the 
machinery  of  municipal  government  or  in  the  orjranisation 
of  parties  as  in  the  existing  system  of  patronage,  there  can, 
from  recent  experience,  be  very  Uttle  doubt.     The  simpli- 
fication of  municipal  machinery  by  the  reduction  of  elective 
officers  and  the  centraUsing  of  responsibiUty  has  accom- 
plished much,  and  may  do  stiU  more,  in  the  way  of  curbing 
the  politician's  power  for  harm;  ard  there  are  capabiUtiea 
of  Uke  service  in  the  establishment  of  independent  munici- 
pal parties,  even  though  they  be  short-lived,  and  the  push- 
ing of  municipal  questions  to  prominence  in  the  programmes 
of  state  parties.    But  most  encouraging  of  all  present-day 
municipal  phenomena  is  the  steadily  rising  tide  of  pubUc 
opinion  that  has  set  against  the  system  of  business  black- 
mail which  now  provides  the  professional  politician  with 
his  sinews  of  war.     The  pubUc-service  corporations,  which 
have  been  thus  exploited  in  krgest  measure,  are  already 
feeling  the  force  of  popuhw  antagonism  in  laws  that  penalize 
even  to  a  vindictive  degree  their  slightest  participation  in 
politics.    Big  business  is  the  first  to  be  called  to  account 
for  its  sins  only  because  it  has  been  the  chief  offender ;  Uttle 
business  will  doubtless  have  its  turn  in  due  course.    The 
eliinination  of  poUtics  from  the  official  business  of  the  city 
is  only  one  step  in  the  direction  of  civic  regeneration;  the 
ousting  of  politics  from  private  business  is  a  task  of  even 
greater  importance. 

RmBSNcm 

The  beet  general  work  on  the  hiatoiy.  oicaniMtion.  and  Mtivitiee  of 
IMurtie.  "^  the  Umted  Sftej.  i.  M.  OrtroBor.ld'.  Democracy  and  the  Org.^ 
^lan  of  PolU^  Partie,  (2  vol...  N«r  York,  W02).  TW  volume  eon- 
tarn  a  oomprehennve.  aooorate.  and  interertinff  mrv^y  of  the  entire  rab- 
J?  '*..rV  *^**  f^tioa,  in  a  fdngle  volume,  wae  iwued  reoentiv  under 
the  titie  Democracy  and  the  Party  SyOom  in  the  United  Statet  (New  York, 


MUNICIPAL  PABTIM  AND  POUTIOS 


179 


MiiM  »nd  Mocking  (N«r  York.  WW).  •»!  J.  A.  wSdb«??P^3S 
Parhn  andPortv  PrM^m,  (N«w  York.  lOM).    EjHwuJTSort  ST 

S?^11!L  II     11!°^!!i**!L!r'  ^''•^  ^  il«-rfaiii  PflttWM  (Now  York, 
189e),Mpoeially  oho.  ▼«.,  xdlL-wv.,  ud  F.  J.  Ooodaow't  PoUHe,  «2 
Admim^atUm  (Now  York.  WOO).  ..^.riUl,  c^.  £^13^ 
«»i    K     ^!!^  «rfMl«.tkm  or  tho  |»rl7  fonoi  in  individiud  eitioi  vwr 
BtUo  !».  boon  printod.  «».pt  fa,  tho  hndbook.  i»««l  by  tho  oiguZ 

tfoM  for  tho  »*  ol  thofr  own  oa<^.,  Md  mombor..  -  M.  to  oaZTK 

C<mn|v./;yr«o  IV*  (Now  York.  1908).    It^SS^Sl^o^TiSXt^ 
thot  the  Mtual  fMU  of  orguiutkm  do  not  howelMei^  to  tho  rZwd 
down  in  lueh  mmnuali.    Tho  ovolotion  of  tho  Now  York  m,  .lidiwl  domo^ 
W°T^n  "^  ^ 0«»Uvn.  Mjr«'. »«pry ^f  Tammany  HaU^ 
York.  1901) ;  uid  oomo  idoo  of  tho  ritwtkm  fai  tho  motropoUt  dnrint  tho 
bftloyon  iaiyt  of  tho  madifaio'i  >iiiiranM7  m«y  bo  ^ImaaA  htm  w  m 
Ivin.'.  Afo^n.  PotUic   (Now^HirTLrfiSl^KJLrt 
^woH  on  Practical  Pontic  (Now  York.  1888).    MooUno  mothod.  to 
other  dtieo  are  doMribod.  without  uy  undue  lonionoy.  to  eueh  works  m 
John  WMMnaker  8  5pMe*M  on  Qvayicm  and  Bom  Domination  in  PkiUt. 
ddpma  Pomic  (Phil^Wphto.  1808).  John  Jv  CUpmW.  Co««  «S 
C»«M,««»c«.  (New  York.  1808).  F.  C.  Howe'.  Th,  City,  the  Hop,  of 
Democracy  (New  York.  1906).  ud  linooto  Stoffone's  SbryggU  forSdf. 
go^^ment  (Now  York.  1906).  o.  woU  m  to  numerou.  wtiolirprintrtX 
tue  annual  Proeecdingt  <rf  nioh  oisanfasatifnu  aa  the  National  Munidnal 
I««ue  and  the  National  Civil  Servioe  Reform  AMooUtion.    TbB  RcparU 
Of  the  Boston  Fbianee  Commiadon  (7  vols.,  Boston,  1908-1912)  eontato 
many  examplee  illustratinc  the  remilts  of  maohtoe  domfaiation  to  oitr 
government.  ' 

The  devious  ways  of  tho  mnnidpalpoBticianoannot.howevor.be  ma*. 
^u^^"^."*"'*y  **  P*'***  materiab.  His  motives,  methods,  reoonreeo. 
and  his  f adUty  to  adiieviug  results  oan  bo  fully  understood  only  by  on^ 
who  is  ready  to  gato  sudi  knowledge  by  the  personal  saorifloe  tovolvod 
m  taking  a  plaoe  on  the  firfaig  luie  to  one  or  more  munidpal  «>mp>tpiT 


■■R 


■IliPW 


CHAPTER  Vni 


Brtotyof 

thadtjr 


The  oooiMil 
in  the 
ookuiial 
bofouglM, 


THB  Cmr  COUNCIL 

T^lRl  WM  •  time  in  American  municipal  hiftoiy  when 
the  council  was  the  chief,  and  in  fact  the  only,  governing 
organ  of  the  city.  It  haa  long  since  ceased  to  be  the  sole 
organ  of  civic  administration,  and  in  some  places  it  is  no 
longer  the  dominant  one;  but  it  retains  everywhere  some 
of  its  old-time  importance,  and  in  some  placet  it  has  still 
to  be  reckoned  with  in  every  municipal  undertaking. 

The  importance  of  the  council  as  an  organ  of  ocal  gov- 
ernment during  the  earUer  stages  of  American  municipal 
development  arose  from  the  fact  that  the  first  English  dtiet 
of  the  New  World  adopted  the  system  of  urban  administra- 
tion then  existing  in  the  motherland.    Although  in  England 
the  gradual  narrowing  of  the  circle  of  freemen  had  deprived 
dty  government  of  its  earlier  democratic  character,  the 
theory  of  popular  local  control  was  at  least  maintained,  and 
a  councU  elected  by  the  burghers  of  the  city  managed  aU 
important  municipal  affairs.    At  the  time  of  its  transplantap 
tion  to  the  American  colonies,  the  Enghsh  municipal  sys- 
tem was  a  democracy  in  principle,  but  a  sheer  oUgarchy  in 
fact;*  and  this  character  was  retamed  by  the  American 
colonial  borough,  at  least  so  far  as  its  frame  of  government 
went. 

Each  of  the  colonial  boroughs  accordingly  had  its  councU ; 
and  this  body  was,  as  in  EngUnd,  made  up  of  aldermen  and 
councilmen  sitting  together.  The  number  of  aldermen 
was  small,  usuaUy  six  or  eight.     In  most  of  the  boroughs 

« For  further  infonnstion  on  this  point.  Me  Mnnro'a  aiMr.«u.i «/ 
Eur.pean  CUU,  (N«w  York,  1909).  209S1L  Ooo^nunt  oj 

180 


fl 


THl  CITY  CX>UNOIL 


Itl 


tfiey  w«ra  deotcd;  but  in  •  few  tJi^  wen  ehoeen  by  the 
corporation,"  that  i.  to  «iy,  h}  the  mayor,  iddermen.  and 
counciUora.    There  were  from  ra  to  twenty-four  coundUon. 
ehoeen  either  by  the  freeholder,  or  by  the  corporation. 
As  already  said,  the  aldermen  and  eounciUor*  did  not  form 
two  -epw^te  bodie.,  but  met  alway.  together;  and  there 
waa  Uttle  difference  between  them,  save  that  the  aldermen 
often  had  some  special  functions  to  perform,  chiefly  of  a 
judicial  naturt.    The  mayor  of  the  colonial  borough  was 
a  member  of  the  councU  and  its  presiding  officer,  but  he  had  m  , 
no  veto  power  ov  ir  its  acts,  and,  as  a  nOe,  no  right  to  appoint  "^ 
any  of  the  borough  officials.    The  councU  as  a  whole,  made 
up  as  It  was  of  mayor,  aldermen,  and  counciUors,  framed  the 
local  ordmances,  vol.xl  and  spent  the  borough  appropria- 
tions, and  attended  to  such  administrative  tasks  as  then 
were;  but  administration,  as  it  is  now  underrtpod,  was  not 
then  of  much  importance,  for  the  colonial  borough  provided 
veiy  Uttle  for  its  dtisens  in  the  way  of  pubUc  servicee. 
Rather  curiously,  the  chief  tasks  imposed  upon  members 
of  the  councU  were  neither  administrative  nor  legisUtive. 
but  judicial.    The  mayor  and  aldermen,  together  with  the 
recorder,  formed  the  borough  court,  which  held  i'«  weekly 
or  fortnightly  sessions  for  the  trial  of  criminal      i  civfl 
cases. 

After  the  Revolution  great  changes  took  place  in  both  n^eto 
the  orgamsation  and  the  functions  of  mv   loipal  councils.  S^± 
The  practice  of  dividing  the  aide.  -  a  into  tv.  o  bodies  with  S^^iSSo* 
distmct  powers  was  adopted   by  some  cities,   and   soon 
spread  to  others,  tiU  before  long  the  bicameral  councU  be- 
«ime  a  general  feature  of  the  American  municipal  system. 
Soon  the     corporation"  as  a  self-perpetuating  body  was 
everywhere  abolished,  both  aldermen  and  counciUors  being 
now  elected  by  direct  popular  vote.    The  mayor  was  not 
yet  elected,  and  in  most  cities  he  stUl  ranked  merely  as  the 


182 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


■mikiL  'I 


Itspoation 
during  the 
first  half 
of  the  nine- 
teenth 
century. 


Its  dom- 
inating 
position 
before  18M. 


r 


presiding  officer  of  the  council  and  not  as  a  separate  adminis- 
trative official;  but  in  course  of  time,  as  the  principle  of 
division  of  powers  gained  recognition  in  municipal  organi- 
zation, his  independence  was  established.  With  this  step 
came  the  mayor's  veto  power  over  the  council's  acts.* 

During  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  however, 
the  council  retained  its  dominating  position  in  municipal 
affairs.    The  members  of  both  its  branches  were  elected  by 
popular  vote,  which  came  generally  to  mean  manhood  suf- 
frage; and  it  had  all  the  prestige  attaching,  in  a  vigorous 
democracy,  to  an  authority  so  selected.    As  administrative 
functions  developed,  they  were  intrusted  by  the  council  to 
its  own  committees;  and  as  the  work  expanded  the  com- 
mittees  multiplied.    The   poUce,  fire  protection,   schools, 
streets,  and  similar  services  went  into  the  immediate  charge 
of    council    committees.    Although    the   council    retained 
formal  charge  of  the  whole  field  of  municipal  administration, 
these  various  committees  naturally  developed,  in  time,  a 
great  degree  of  independence ;  for  the  councils  had  grown 
so  large  that  it  was  practically  impossible  for  the  whole 
body  to  give  detailed  supervision  to  the  work  which  de- 
veloped with  urban  growth.    By  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  therefore,  the  city  council  had  reached  a 
place  in  the  American  mimicipal  system  quite  as  dominat- 
ing  as   that   occupied   by   the   borough    council   in    the 
English  system  at  the  present  time.    The  mayor,  it  is  true, 
had  acquired  much  independent  authority;    but  in  most 
American  cities  the  council  not  only  constituted  the  munici- 
pal legislature,  but  also,  through  its  numerous  committees, 
directed  the  purely  administrative  functions  of  the  city. 
The  period  1840-1850  may,  accordingly,  be  said  to  have 
marked  the  heyday  of  conciliar  supremacy  in  the  frame  of 
American  city  government. 

>  See  above,  pp.  10-11, 


THE  CITT  COUNCIL 


183 


i8sa 


Then  came  a  reaction.    The  rapid  growth  of  cities  due  Thedty 
to  the  heavy  immigration  of  the  kter  forties  put  a  new  strain  T"^'^ 
upon  the  machinery  of  city  government;   moreover,  the 
councils  seem  to  have  everywhere  declined  in   the  caUber 
of  their  membership.*    Between  the  two  causes  the  system 
of  administration  by  council  committees  soon  encountered 
trouble.    The  committees  now  had  far  more  work  to  do, 
and  they  were  not  so  competent  to  do  it  as  they  had  been ; 
hence  it  was  done  poorly  and  the  citizens  complained.    Aa 
important  departments  of  city  administration  became  de- 
moraUzed  through  the  inefficiency  or  the  partisanship  of 
the  committees  that  had  them  in  charge,  appeals  were  made 
to  the  state  authorities  for  intervention.    The  states  re-  sufin. 
sponded,  but  their  responses  took  different  forms.    In  some  *«'*~"*- 
cases  the  state  legislature  amended  the  city  charter  by  tak- 
ing the  administration  of  various  municipal  departments 
away  from  the  council  committees  and  giving  it  to  newly 
established  administrative  officials  or  to  boards  chosen  by 
popular  vote.*    In  other  cities  the  administrative  functions 
of  the  mayor  were  expanded  at  the  expense  of  the  councU ; « 
and  in  still  others  some  departments  were  removed  from 
municipal  control  altogether,  and  vested  in  the  hands  of 
authorities  appointed  by  the  state.* 
This  movement  for  reducing  the  administrative  authority 

m17^  decline  haa  oommonly  been  attributed  to  the  influenoe  of  the 
«h«udlux  combined  with  the  nystem of  nmnhoodmtfimte;  bur-fto! 

141).  tte  dechne  in  eaUber  had  bepm  before  the  tide  of  ton£a2o« 
reached  anything  like  its  real  atrength.  "»m«r»aou 

{«  1^1  ^^^^^^  '^tw  bowi  wae  eetablidied  in  Chicago  by  state  Uw 
in  1851;  dunng  the  year  following  »veral  admini.tratiS  boarf.  mJ 
officers  were  provided  for  in  CleTel««i;  and  in  1867  Detroit  bXtt« 
creation  of  independent  boards.  *^«vii.  oegm  uie 

du^'SieTe.S'iS^l^T^*""'  '^'^'  «^«»PJ^  '^  Baltin^re 

.JiLl-^l*^","!*^*^  established  a  state  park  oommission  and  a 
state  pohce  board  for  New  York.  Brooklyn,  and  the  territory  adjo^ 


i  U 
t  !i 


M 


184 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


m 


'1 


Impair^ 
ment  of  tha 
council's 
•dministr*- 
tive  powMB. 


Differences 
between 
English  and 
American 
municipal 
develop- 
ment dur- 
ing the 
period. 


of  the  municipal  council  gained  headway  in  all  the  larger 
cities,  until,  before  long,  its  progress  resulted  in  confining 
the  council's  sphere  of  influence  to  local  legislation.  As 
the  council's  powers  dwindled,  its  membership  declined  in 
quality;  and  as  it  grew  less  dependable  in  personnel  more 
checks  were  put  upon  it.  In  the  thirty  or  forty  years 
following  1850  the  council  was  in  many  cities  transformed 
from  the  dominant  factor  in  the  municipal  system  to  a 
body  whose  chief  tasks  were  to  make  local  by-laws  and  pass 
the  annual  appropriations.  Its  other  powers  had  gone  to 
the  mayor,  or  to  various  executive  officiab  and  boards,  or, 
in  a  few  cases,  to  state-appointed  commissions.  A  com- 
parison of  the  Boston  charters  of  1854  and  1885  affords 
a  good  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  the  balance  of  power 
had  during  the  intervening  three  decades  been  shifted  from 
the  council  to  the  executive  organs  of  city  government.^ 

It  is  somewhat  noteworthy  that  during  the  same  period 
nothing  of  the  kind  took  place  in  the  cities  of  any  other 
country.  In  England  the  city  council  lost  none  of  its  powers 
during  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  man- 
aged rather  to  increase  the  authority  which  it  already  pos- 
sessed. The  same  is  true  of  corresponding  bodies  in  the 
cities  of  continental  Etirope.  In  none  has  there  been  a 
clear  separation  between  legislative  and  administrative 
powers,  and  in  none  has  the  executive  encioached  upon  the 
legislature.  The  English  city  still  administers  its  various 
public  services  through  standing  committees  of  the  mxmic- 
ipal  council,  just  as  it  did  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago ; 
and,  although  central  supervision  of  local  affairs  has  mean- 
time greatly  increased  its  rigor,  the  English  municipal  coun- 
cil has  to-day  more  work  to  do,  and  more  authority  to  do  it, 
than  at  any  previous  time.  In  American  cities,  on  the 
other  hand,  dissatisfaction  with  the  couduct  of  municipal 

» Acts  and  Resolves  of  MaacaehusetU,  1854,  ch.  448,  and  1885,  eh.  266. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


185 


affaire  has  wreaked  its  vengeance  on  the  councU,  untU,  as 
a  result  of  pereistent  shearing,  its  powere  are  in  general 
scarcely  a  tithe  of  what  they  were  half  a  century  ago. 

To  describe  the  present-day  organization  and  powere 
of  the  council  in  American  cities  is  not  easy,  for  the  reason 
that  these  features  are  aUke  in  hardly  any  two  of  them. 
Each  of  the  forty-eight  states  has  its  own  laws  relating  to 
these  mattere,  and  in  most  of  them  different  arrangements 
have  been  established  by  special  chartere  for  different  cities. 
Thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  even  in  the  elements  of  or- 
ganization there  is  no  uniformity.    Some  cities  have  a 
council  of  two  branches;  othera  have  a  single  chamber. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  m  the  United  States  as  a  whole 
only  about  one-third  of  aU  the  cities  of  over  25,000  popula- 
tion have  the  two-chamber  system;  and  in  the  cities  that 
have  populations  below  this  figure  the  proportion  is  probably 
even  smaller.    Of  the  ten  largest  cities  in  the  country,  New 
York,  Chicago,  Boston,  Cleveland,  and  San  Francisco  have 
a    ingle-chamber  council;   while  an  equal  number,  Phila- 
delphia, St.  Louis,  Baltimore,  Pittsburg,  and  Buffalo,  re- 
tain the  bicameral  sfystem.* 

The  two-chamber  system  is  defended  upon  various 
grounds.  It  is  urged,  for  example,  that  as  a  check  upon 
hasty  and  ill-considered  action  the  double  chamber  is  as 
appropriate  in  city  as  in  state  government ;  but  it  may  weU 
be  doubted  whether,  when  both  branches  of  the  councU  are 
elected  by  popular  vote,  the  bicameral  system  performs  any 
real  service  in  this  direction.  In  practice  the  same  political 
party  is  likely  to  dominate  both  branches  of  the  councU, 
and  when  this  happens  the  same  machine  leadera  are  almost 
certam  to  dictate  the  action  of  both  bodies.  Under  such 
circumstances  one  branch  is  no  check  upon  the  other.  On 
the  other  hand,  when  different  political  organizations  con- 
» A.  R.  Hatton,  Digttt  of  CUy  Chtartera  (Chicago,  1906),  74. 


PftMnt 
orguiiss. 
tion  of  dty 
oounoila. 


Merit! 

eiaimedto 
thedouU*. 
chamber 
■yatem. 


186 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Adspte- 
bOity  of  the 
Uetunerat 
eystem  to 
the  dty'a 
official 


Siiigle 
ehambcn 
tooaMily 
eontralled. 


trol  the  two  branches,  they  are  liable  to  check  each  other  so 
eflfectually  that  only  an  understanding  between  the  two  party 
machines  can  avail  to  release  a  permanent  deadlock.     Such 
undeiBtandings,  it  is  needless  to  say,  are  usually  the  fruit  of 
anteroom  compromises  in  which  the  interests  of  the  city  are 
sacrificed  for  the  benefit  of  the  party  organizations  concerned. 
Again,  it  is  frequently  asserted  that,  owing  to  the  varied 
character  of  the  tasks  which  a  city  council  has  to  perform, 
two  branches  of  different  structure  and  size  are  necessary. 
Some  things  of  a  semi-executive  nature  which  come  before 
the  council  with  great  frequency  (such  as  the  granting  of 
locations  in  the  city  streets)  can,  it  is  urged,  best  be  handled 
in  a  body  of  ten  or  a  dozen  members ;  whereas  other  matters, 
such  as  the  voting  of  appropriations,  ought  properly  to  come 
before  a  much  more  numerous  branch,  the  members  of  which 
represent  eveiy  section  of  the  city  and  every  interest  of  the 
citizens.    In  reply  to  this  contention,  however,  it  has  been 
pointed  out  th>it  the  first  class  of  matters  ought  not  to  come 
before  the  city  legislature  at  aU,  or  before  any  branch  of  it; 
that,  being  quasi-ex-  ;utive  in  nature,  they  belong  to  some 
purely  administrative  board;   and  that  in  any  case  their 
proper  handling  scarcely  demands  a  permanent  division  of 
the  city  councU  into  two  bodies.    Another  persistent  no- 
tion is  that,  since  a  single  chamber  is  more  susceptible  to 
sinister  influence,  to  domination  by  some  powerful  corporate 
interest,  the  double-chamber  system  constitutes  a  useful 
pubUc  safeguard.    This  idea,  which  is  no  doubt  deeply 
rooted  in  the  pubUc  mind,  overlooks  two  very  important 
matters  of  everyday  fact.    One  is  the  commonplace  of 
poUtical  science,  that  the  only  pubUc   safeguard  in  such 
things  is  the  personal  integrity  of  the  councihnen.    If  the 
individual  members  of  the  councU  be  deficient  in  this,   it 
matters  very  Uttle  whether  their  number  be  large  or  smaU, 
or  whether  they  be  grouped  into  one  or  two  branches.    On 


I   ' 
ii  i 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


187 


the  other  hand,  if  men  of  adequate  moral  fibre  be  put  into 
public  office,  it  matters  about  as  Uttle  wheSher  they  be  few 
or  many,  and  whether  they  sit  together  or  do  their  work  in 
different  rooms. 

The  other  phase  of  the  question  which  this  argument  in 
favor  of  the  bicameral  council  overlooks  is  the  fact  that 
quite  as  many  opportunities  for  evil  arise  from  i;  council's 
versatiUty  in  impeding  business  a?  from  its  power  to  rush 
things  through  with  unseemly  haste.  If  a  single  chamber 
can  by  malign  pressure  be  too  easily  stampeded  into  a 
vote  which  is  not  in  the  interest  of  the  citizens,  it  is  just 
as  true  that  a  double  chaaber  affords  to  every  bkckmailing 
political  influence  an  undue  advantage  in  blocking  the  path 
of  measures  which  are  in  the  city's  interest.  The  history  of 
American  city  councils  furnishes  quite  as  many  examples 
of  malfeasance  in  one  direction  as  in  the  other.* 

It  may  be  urged,  furthermore,  that  the  bicameral  system 
engenders  profitless  deUy  and  needless  friction;  that  it 
precludes  the  city  from  pursuing  the  prompt  and  business- 
like methods  of  private  organizations;  that  it  is  out  of 
harmony  with  the  arrangements  which  exist  in  the  best-gov- 
erned cities  of  other  countries ;  that  the  majority  of  American 
cities,  which  do  not  have  the  system,  get  along  quite  as  well 
as  the  minority,  which  do  have  it;  and  that  no  oity  which 
has  in  recent  years  abolished  the  double  chamber  shows  any 
desire  to  restore  it.  In  general  the  bicameral  system  has 
been  losing  ground,  and  the  strong  probability  is  that  it 
will  continue  to  do  so. 

When  there  is  a  two-chambered  council,  one  branch  is 
usuaUy  caUed  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  the  other  the  Common 

» For  other  arpunenU.  pro  and  oon,  we  .  paper  by  the  Hon.  Samuel 
Ri'itw  °.?!  oP°f  *"  ^**  I*Birf»tive  Chambers."  %ad  one  by  John  A. 
Hutler  on  A  Single  or  a  Double  Connoii,"  in  Proceeding!  of  the  National 
Municipal  i*ague  for  1806.  ^-"wuh 


TheU- 
eameial 
oounoilM 
an  sa<!Bt  of 
delay. 


'ilM  double* 
chamber 
■jratem  pro- 
duoMfiio. 
tkui. 


Nomencla- 

tiireof 

couneOf. 


188 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


I    '    ;! 


Temuof 


Council  Sometimes,  however,  another  name  is  given  to 
the  upper  branch ;  in  Philudelphia,  for  example,  it  is  called 
the  Select  Council,  and  in  St.  Louis  the  House  of  Delegates. 
In  size  there  is  great  variation  among  city  councils.  At 
the  head  of  the  list  is  Philadelphia,  with  forty-one  member;, 
in  one  branch  of  its  council  and  one  hundred  and  forty- 
nine  in  the  other.  New  York  and  Chicago  ha/e  single 
chambers,  comprising  seventy-nine  and  seventy  members 
respectively.  San  Francisco,  however,  has  a  council  of 
eighteen  members,  called  supervisors;  and  the  Boston 
council  contains  nine  members  only.  When  a  council  has 
two  branches,  the  members  of  the  upper  branch  are 
usually  elected  for  either  a  two-year  or  a  four-year  term : 
members  of  the  lower  branch  are  in  most  cases  chosen 
for  one  or  two  years,  the  latter  tena  being  the  more 
common,  except  in  the  cities  of  New  England,  where 
the  practice  of  electing  councihnen  annually  is  still  main- 
tained.* When  terms  are  short,  reelections  are  common; 
but  in  any  event  councilmen  seldom  serve  more  than  six 
or  eight  years.  In  this  respect  the  traditions  of  American 
cities  differ  very  widely  from  those  of  English  municip(>uties, 
where  service  of  ten  or  even  twenty  years  at  the  council- 
board  is  not  at  all  unusual. 

Sj^f*"         "^  *  ^^'  ^^^  qualified  voter  may  become  a  candidate  for 

councilmen.  election  to  either  branch  of  a  city  council,  but  in  some  cities 

an  additional  residence  requirement  is  imposed.'    In  a  few 

places  it  is  stipulated  that  aldermen  and  councilmen  shall 

be  at  least  tw  anty-five  years  of  age ;» and  in  at  least  one  city, 

•  A  chapter  in  J.  A.  Pairlie's  Etaaya  in  Municipal  Adminittration  (New 
York,  1908),  entitled  "Amerioan  Municipal  Councils,"  contains  much 
carefully-compiled  information  concerning  council  organization  in  vwi- 
ous  cities  throughout  the  United  States. 

•  In  Philadelphia  four  years,  in  San  Francisco  five  years. 

•  In  Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans,  for  examine.  In  St.  Louis  the  ag« 
limit  is  thirty. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


188 


Detroit,  there  is  an  elementaiy  educational  qtialification 
which  is  not  exacted  from  voters,  namely,  that  ol  being  able 
"  to  read  and  write  the  English  language  intelUgibly."   Many 
city  charters  also  contain  the  stipulation  that  a  member  of 
the  councU  shall  not  hold  any  other  public  office,  that  he  shaU 
not  be  pecuniarily  intf  rested  in  any  contract  to  which  the 
city  is  a  party,  and  that  no  one  who  has  ever  been  convicted 
of  any  violation  of  a  pubUc  trust  shaU  be  elected  to  the 
board.     In   no    city   is   a   special  property   qualification 
exacted,  nor  is  any  previous  experience  in  pubUc  office  re- 
quired or  even  expected.     The  municipal  councU  represents 
the  lowest  rung  in  the  ladder  of  American  public  life.    It  is 
where  many  men  begin  what  they  hope  will  prove  a  poUtii  al 
career;  but  not  many  of  them  manage  to  get  much  higher. 
This  is  because  the  municipal  council,  especially  in  the  laiger 
cities,  does  not  attract  men  of  real  ability  or  business  ca- 
pacity, a  fact  which  has  been  so  often  commented  upon  that  o««mI 
it  has  ceased  to  excite  any  surprise.    It  does  not  get  even  SSS^ 
fair  material.    Very  rarely  is  it  true  nowadays  that  any  «>"»<^- 
considerable  percentage  of  the  counciUors  are  owners  of  ""^ 
property;    indeed,  it  would  probably  be  found,  in  most 
large  cities,  that  at  least  three-fourths  ot  them  contribute 
nothing  to  the  city  treasury  but  an  annual  poU-tax.     In 
Boston,  just  before  the  common  council  of  seventy-five  mem- 
bers was  abolished,  it  was  said  that  the  total  sum  which 
they  paid  in  taxes  did  not  equal  the  annual  cost  of  a  sin-^le 
city  laborer.    Only  a  few  of  them  owned  any  property  at 
all ;  the  rest  were  assessed  for  poll-taxes,  and  even  these 
small  sums  could  in  some  cases  be  collected  only  by  de- 
ducting them  from  the  monthly  stipends  of  the  councilmen. 
In  many  American  cities  about  the  only  practical  require- 
ments for  election  to  the  council  are  that  the  candidate  shaU 
have  given  proof  of  loyalty  to  his  poUtical  party;  that  he 
shaU  have  no  substantial  busmess  cares,  for  he  must  devote 


m 


«■ 


100 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Fkyof 

oounefl« 


m 


Methods  of 
ilootioiu 


a  large  part  of  his  time,  not  to  the  actual  duties  of  his  office, 
but  to  his  own  rtle  in  the  continuous  vaudeville  of  ward 
poUtics;  that  he  be  gUb  of  tongue,  an  active  canvasser 
for  votes,  not  vindictive,  not  ungrateful,  and  not  over- 
scrupulous. 

Most  cities  pay  their  aldermen  and  councillors.    The  al- 
dermen of  New  York  receive  $2000  per  year;  councilmen 
m  Boston  and  Chicago  get  11600;  in  smaUer  cities  the  re- 
muneration is  $1000  or  less.    Of  the  Urgest  cities,  Phila- 
delphia and  Pittsburg  are  the  only  ones  that  give  their 
mumcipal  legislators  no  remuneration;   but  many  smaller 
cities  pursue  this  policy.    The  caliber  of  councihnen  seems, 
however,  to  be  in  no  way  related  to  the  salaries  paid.     When 
a  substantial  remuneration  is  given,  pUces  at  the  councU- 
board  are  often  sought  by  men  whose  abiUty  would  not  com- 
mand such  return  in  any  private  employment.     On  the 
other  hand,  when  cities  pay  only  a  nominal  stipend,  or  noth- 
ing at  all,  men  who  have  other  interests  to  engage  their 
attention  are  deterred  from  the  sacrifice  which  service  in 
the  council  demands  of  them.     Hence  most  of  the  candi- 
dates for  election  come  from  the  ranks  of  those  who  have 
nothing  to  sacrifice  and  who  hope  to  secure  in  a  roundabout 
way  some  recoupment  for  any  time  they  may  give  the  city.» 
It  is  coming  to  be  felt  that  cities  would  find  it  profitable 
to  reduce  their  councils  materiaUy  in  size,  and  proportion- 
ately increase  the  sblaries  paid  to  councihnen. 

There  are  three  systems  of  selecting  members  of  mu- 
nicipal councUs,  —  election  by  wards  or  other  districts,  elec- 
tion at  large,  f  i  election  by  a  combination  of  both  these 
methods.  The  first  method  is  most  commonly  foUowed  in 
the  choice  of  a  single-chambered  council,  and  it  is  also 

-SWhT'*-""  "/r^T  '"'"""^  ^  •  P*!*'  ^^  J-  N.  Pryor.  entitled. 
v!hwi  ^"^"'.P^,  J-tP-J^to"  receive  a  Salary?"  in  Proceedings  of  the 
National  Municipal  League  for  1896. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


m 


almost  invariably  used  in  the  aeleotion  of  memben  for  the 
larger  branch  of  a  bicameral  council.  Under  the  ward 
system  each  district  of  the  city  chooses  one,  two,  or  three 
councillors.  Chicago,  for  example,  elects  two  from  each  of 
its  thirty-five  wards;  Philadelphia  chooses  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-nine  members  of  its  common  council  from 
its  forty-one  wards,  each  ward  having  representation  in 
proportion  to  its  population.  Boston  and  San  Francisco 
are  about  the  only  large  cities  that  elect  aU  their  council- 
men  (numbering  nine  and  eighteen,  respectively)  on  a  gen- 
er.  i  city  ticket;  but  many  cities  that  have  two  chambers 
elect  the  members  of  the  smaller  branch  in  this  way. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  concerning  the  relative  juuun 
merits  of  the  ward  and  general-ticket  systems  of  choosing  JJ^^ 
municipal  councillors,  and  it  is  often  alleged  that  the  ward  •«»• 
system  has  been  responsible  in  no  smaU  degree  for  the  me-  *''*^ 
diocrity  of  the  men  usuaUy  selected.    Petty  districts  choose 
petty  men, —  so  the  saying  runs.     The  ward  councillor 
represents  his  own  ward,  tnd  that  alone.    He  forgets  that 
the  city  is  more  than  the  sum  of  its  wards,  and  that  the 
pubUc  opinion  of  the  city  may  be  different  from  the  total- 
ity of  neighborhood  clamors.    Ward  divisions  are  at  best 
ephemeral ;  unlike  the  French  ammdiasement,  the  American 
ward  has  rarely  any  traditions  and  as  a  unit  of  area  exacts 
no  spontaneous  loyalty  from  the  people  who  live  in  it. 
What  paiises  for  ward  loyalty  is,  more  commonly  than  not, 
local  prejudice  fostered  by  poUticians  to  serve  their  own 
personal    ends.    Moreover,    the    concentration    of   single 
ethnic  elements  in  particular  sections  of  the  city  makes  it 
practically  certain  that,  under  the  ward  system,  some  mem- 
bers of  the  council  will  owe  their  election  to  nothing  but  their 
proficiency  in  appealing  to  racial  or  religious  or  social 
narrowness.    The  ward  system  likewise  affords  a  standing 
mcentive  to  that  most  vicious  of  all  American  contributions 


ami 


192 


OOVIRNMBNT  OF  AMIRICAN  CITIIB 


TiMward 
pUnaad 
KprgtentSp 
tioa. 


to  the  science  of  practical  poHtics,  the  gerrymander;   it 
makes  possible  the  control  of  a  majority  in  the  councU  by  a 
nunonty  of  the  city's  voters;  and,  unless  redistricting  is 
resorted  to  frequently,  it  fosters  gross  inequaUties  in  repre- 
sentation.    The  term  "ward"  has  accordingly  come  kito 
disrepute  in  the  terminology  of  American  government,  a 
somewhat  curious  fact,  by  the  way,  since  in  England,  where 
counciUoTB  are  and  always  have  been  chosen  from  wards 
no  such  odium  has  been  developed.    Its  presence  here  is 
doubtless  explained  by  the  fact  that  in  America  ward  repre- 
sentation,  ward  poUtics,  and  ward  organisation  have  come 
to  be  associated  in  the  pubUc  mind  with  bossism,  trickery 
and  ahnost  everything  else  that  is  poUticaUy  demoraUsing. 
A  feeling  so  deeply  lodged  can  scarcely  be  without  some 
substantial  fotmdation. 

One  thing,  however,  the  ward  system  has  in  its  favor: 
It  does  secure  what  many  voters  seem  to  regard  as  the  only 
real  representation  of  their  special  interests  in  the  city  gov- 
ernment, and  it  does  insure  a  certain  amount  of  geographical 
and  poUtical  variety  in  the  make-up  of  the  municipal  councU. 
It  18  the  faUure  of  the  general-ticket  syscem  to  afford  ade- 
quate guarantees  on  these  points  that  has  hindered  its  more 
extensive  adoption.    Under  a  system  of  election  at  lowe 
It  IS  entirely  possible  for  all  the  r^unciUors  to  come  from  one 
section  of  the  city,  or  at  any  rate  from  a  few  of  the  many 
sections;  and  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  probable,  that  if 
the  municipal  ballot  bears  party  designations,  as  it  usuaUy 
does,  they  will  aU  come  from  one  poUtical  party.    When 
nominations  are  made  by  poUtical  conventions,  it  can  usually 
be  arranged  to  give  the  various  geographical  sections  of  the 
city  due  recognition  on  the  slate  of  candidates;  but  when 
nommations  are  made  by  direct  primaries  or  by  petition 
this  cannot  very  easily  be  done.    In  such  cases  some  sec- 
tions are  liable  to  be  left  without  representation  among 


THI  CITT  COUNCIL 


198 


the  candidates  whoee  namet  go  on  the  baUot;  and  dnoe, 
when  a  poUtical  party  stands  loyaUy  by  its  whole  slate  of 
candidate,  it  will  ekct  them  aU,  the  minority  party  is 
whoUy  unrepresented  in  the  councU.  In  Boston,  some  years 
ago,  when  the  thirteen  members  of  the  board  of  aldermen 
were  elected  at  large,  one  poUtical  party  regularly  managed 
to  capture  the  whole  quota,  untU  the  legislature  intervened 
and  required  by  statute  that  voters  should  mark  their  bal- 
lots for  not  more  than  seven  candidates,  although  thirteen 
were  to  be  chosen.*  Thenceforth  the  majority  party  in 
the  city  was  assured  of  seven  aldermen,  while  the  minority 
party  secured  the  remaining  six ;  but  the  board  was  always 
so  closply  balanced  poUticaUy  that  deadlocks  were  fre- 
quent, and  the  city's  business  was  greatly  obstructed  in 
consequence. 

These  objections  to  the  system  of  electing  councillors  at  «i 

large  merely  beg  the  question  as  to  whether  either  geographi-  S,***"  "* 
cal  or  poUtical  representation  is  a  thing  to  be  desired.    Are  •»* 
not  different  sections  of  the  city,  however  diverse  they  may  Sa 
be  in  their  racial  or  social  or  economic  features,  entirely  at 
one  in  theu-  common  interest  concerning  the  city  as  a  whole  ? 
Can  any  poUcy  which  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  whole  body 
of  citizens  be  of  permanent  disadvantage  to  citizens  of  any 
one  race  or  creed  or  neighborhood  ?    The  plea  for  ward  repre- 
sentation rests  upon  the  affirmative  of  this  proposition. 
As  for  the  service  which  the  ward  system  is  reputed  to  ren- 
der in  assuring  due  representation  to  a  minority  poUtical 
party,  many  persons  are  disposed  to  deny  that  it  is  a  service 
at  aU,  since  it  rests  upon  the  premise  that  the  regular  politi- 
cal parties  have  a  necessary  place  in  municipal  affairs  and 
hence  should  be  officially  recognized  and  their  interests  duly 


ire  •y*«in 


I.  J„**f  **^*  ■'^°""  MTMigemenfei  for  securing  minority  representation 
Sli^'^'""  time,  been  tried  in  other  cities,  notobly  ii  ^rlSlt  ud 
Chicago.    In  no  case  have  thv  proved  satisfactory. 


IM 


OOTIRNMINT  OP  AMIRIOAN  CITIlt 


Nooia** 
tioMof 


fortlMtioa 

totiM 

•wiiefl. 


Election 
awehineiT. 


ngurded  in  the  eompodtkm  of  the  city  govenuneat.  Sueh 
dootrinei  are  supported  neither  by  reMon  nor  by  experienee, 
•Bd  they  are  quite  out  of  harmony  with  the  preaent-day  drift 
of  pubUo  lentiment.  Thoae  American  dtiea  which  have 
reorganised  their  adminiatraUve  arrangements  during  the 
last  ten  years  have,  without  exception,  striven  to  lesMn  the 
recognition  given  to  poUtieal  parUes.  Important  steps  to 
this  end  have  been  the  reduction  of  the  councU  in  sise 
and  the  removal  of  party  designations  from  the  mu- 
nicipal baUot.  With  the  adoption  of  these  featuna  the 
chief  reasons  for  the  ward  qrstem  of  election  disappear. 

Candidates  for  election  to  the  council  are  nominated  in  a 
variety  of  ways.    In  a  few  ciUes  the  ward  or  dty  caucus  stiU 
remains;  in  some  the  party  convention  chooses  candidates 
for  election  at  large.    Many  dUes  have  repUced  both  caucus 
and  convention  by  the  party  primary,  each  party  holding 
its  own  primaiy  and  choosing  its  own  offidal  candidates. 
In  Massachusetts  (except  in  Boston  and  those  dties  that 
have  adopted  the  commisnon  form  of  government)  the  joint 
party  primaiy  is  used,  both  parties  choosing  their  candidates 
on  the  same  day  and  at  the  same  ballot-boxes.    During 
recent  years  some  dties,  particularly  those  which  have 
adopted  the  commisnon  type  of  government,  have  used  the 
non-partisan  primaiy,   at  which  candidates  are  selected 
without  regard  to  their  party  affiliations.    Boston  nominates 
Its  nine  councilmen  by  petitions  bearing  each  the  signatures 
of  at  least  6000  qualified  voters;  and  the  few  cities  that 
elect  councilmen  by  a  system  of  preferential  voting  have 
no  elaborate  nominating  machineiy  at  aU.     The  merits 
and  defects  of  these  various  plans  of  nomination  have  been 
discussed  in  a  previous  chapter.^ 

Elections  for  the  city  council  are  everywhere  conducted 
by  secret  ballot,  and  in  almost  aU  cases  the  so-termed 

•  Above,  oh.  vi. 


THl  CITT  COUNCIL 


185 


Auftralian  ballot  is  uMd.  In  numy  dtfag  the  ballot  oontln- 
UM  to  bear  a  party  deugnation  after  the  name  of  eaeh  candi- 
date for  election  to  the  council,  and  thue  puts  a  premium 
upon  party  regularity  among  the  votert.  A  pluraUty  of 
votec  ii  luffident  to  elect  a  councillor;  hence,  ai  there  are 
usually  more  than  two  candidates  for  the  same  vacancy,  it 
very  frequently  happens  that  a  councihnan  is  chosen  by  a 
minority  of  the  voters.  ElecUons  may  be  voided  on  the 
unial  grounds;  but  in  most  dties  the  council  is  the  sole 
judge  of  the  qualifications  of  its  members,  and  decides, 
among  other  thinp,  whether  or  not  a  councihnan  was 
property  elected.  Being  a  partisan  body,  it  is  more  apt 
to  render  ito  decision  upon  partisan  grounds  than  upon 
the  real  facts  of  the  case.  After  dection  the  councillors 
qualify  by  taking  a  prescribed  oath  of  office. 

In  organisation  and  procedure  munidpal   councils  are  ru 
much  alike  throughout  the  United  States.^    Reguhv  meet-  SSZ 
ings  take  place  at  the  dty  haU,  weekly  in  the  larger  cities,  "'^ 
fortnightly  or  monthly  in  the  smaUer.    Special  meetings  ""^ 
may  be  held  when  a  certain  number  of  memben  ask  for  them. 
In  a  few  dties,  notably  in  Chicago  and  Providence,  the 
mayor  prendes  at  all  council  meetings ;  but  as  a  rule  the 
council,  or  each  branch  of  it,  selects  its  own  prerident.    This  is 
done  at  the  first  meetingafter  an  dection,  and  a  clear  liiajority 
of  yotea  is  usuaUy  necessary;  hence  the  sdection  of  a  pro- 
dding officer  is  not  infrequently  debyed  for  weeks  or  even 
months,  through  the  inability  of  a  majority  of  the  members 
to  agree  upon  a  choice.    Where  party  discipline  is  good, 
however,  the  selection  is  virtually  made  at  a   preliminary 
caucus  by  the  members  of  the  majority  party  in  the  councfl. 
The  preddents  of  the  board  of  aldermen  and  the  common 
council  are  usuaUy  chosen  for  a  single  year.    The  councU, 

'There  ia  •  good  diaouHdon  of  thi*  matter  in  Eugene  MeQoillin's  Law 
^  Municipal  Corporation;  U.  eh.  xiu. 


Council 
committees, 


f 

. 

It 

,',••! 

W;; 

•i 

'■' 

1, 

i 

i 

i 

a    9 

k   ! 

! 

it 

. 

!l 

; 

m 

! 

m 

i 

How  com- 
mittees are 
chosen. 


196 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


furthermore,  determines  its  own  rules  of  procedure.  At 
its  opening  meeting  it  ordinarily  readopts  the  regulations  of 
the  preceding  year,  with  such  incidental  changes  as  may  be 
deemed  desirable.  Each  branch  of  a  city  council  has  its  own 
code  of  rules;  but  these  rarely  differ  much,  and  methods 
are  more  or  less  uniform  in  different  cities.  The  rules  are 
usually  capable  of  suspension  either  by  unanimous  consent 
or  by  a  two-thirds  vote;  and  such  suspensions  are  more 
frequent,  perhaps,  than  they  ought  to  be. 

Most  of  the  routine  work  which  a  city  council  has  to  do  is 
performed  through  standing  committees.  When  there  are 
two  branches  of  the  council,  there  are  joint  committees 
made  up  of  members  from  each  branch;  but,  if  either 
branch  has  special  functions  apart  from  the  other,  that 
branch  will  also  have  some  separate  committees  of  its 
own.  In  a  large  city  the  council  will  have  from  a  dozen  to 
thirty  or  forty  regular  committees,  each  made  up  of  from 
three  to  nine  members.  The  city  coimcil  of  Boston,  before 
its  reorganization  in  1909,  had  no  fewer  than  foriy-two 
joint  standing  committees,  fully  half  of  which  had  only 
nominal  functions  to  perform.  Some  council  committees 
are  very  influential  bodies,  with  many  questions  of  real 
importance  to  consider.  Perhaps  the  best  example  is  the 
finance  committee,  or  the  committee  on  appropriations ;  but 
the  standing  committees  on  streets,  poUce,  health,  water  sup- 
ply, and  fire  protection  also  have  a  great  many  important 
matters  to  deal  with  every  year.  The  conunittees  on  pub- 
licity, statistics,  sinking  fimds,  or  contingencies  have,  for 
the  most  part,  only  perfunctory  duties  and  often  hold  no 
meetings  at  all. 

Very  naturally,  the  councillors  all  want  places  on  the  major 
committees,  and  more  particularly  chairmanships  of  them ; 
consequently,  much  pressure  is  brought  to  bear  from  all  sides 
upon  the  appointing  authority.    In  a  few  cities  this  authority 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


197 


is  a  committee  chosen  at  the  beginning  of  each  year  to  frame 
slates  of  standing  committees ;  but  in  most  places  all  com- 
mittees are  appointed  by  the  president  of  the  council.  When 
there  are  two  branches,  the  chairman  of  each  names  a  quota 
from  his  own  chamber  to  serve  upon  the  joint  committees. 
This  system  of  course  gives  the  presiding  officer  a  great 
deal  of  patronage,  and  too  often  is  a  means  of  enabling  him 
to  pay  the  price  of  his  election ;  for  not  infrequently  can- 
didates for  election  to  the  presidency  of  city  councils  get 
much  of  their  strength  by  promising  committee  chairman- 
ships or  places  on  important  committees  to  those  councilmen 
who  are  ready  to  support  their  candidacy.  The  committee 
slates,  accordingly,  are  more  often  framed  with  a  view  to  the 
fulfilment  of  ante-election  pledges  than  with  a  purpose  to 
secure  upon  committees  men  who  are  best  qualified  to  deal 
with  the  special  matters  that  will  come  before  them.  This 
being  the  case,  it  is  not  surprising  that,  as  a  rule,  the  reports 
and  recommendations  of  the  council's  standing  committees 
carry  no  considerable  weight  with  the  council  as  a  whole. 

Herein  the  English  and  American  systems  of  committee  En^ah  and 
administration  differ  greatly.    In  the  council  of  an  English  ^^^ 
city  the  recommendation  of  a  standing  committee  on  any  """^^J?" 
matter  within  its  particular  field  of  jurisdiction  is  practically 
decisive.    That  is  because  the  English  city  council  chooses 
its  own  committees,  putting  upon  them  the  aldermen  and 
councillors  who  seem  best  qualified  by  training  and  experience 
to  deal  with  the  matters  in  hand,  and  endeavoring  to  keep 
the  same  men  on  the  same  committees  as  long  as  they 
remain  members  of  the  council.*    The  recommendations  of 
committees  so  constituted  deserve  and  receive  weight,  be- 
cause they  embody  the  conclusions  of  men  who,  though 
laymen,  have  become  experts  in  their  special  fields  of  ad- 

*  See  the  data  on  thii  point  given  in  Miinro's  Oovemment  of  Euro- 
pean  CUUt  (New  York,  1909),  284-285. 


198 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Powers  oi 
the  city 
oouncil. 


H  m 


ministration.    Members  of  American  council  committees, 
on  the  other  hand,  chosen  as  they  are  not  by  the  council  but 
by  the  presiding  officer,  have  seldom  any  special  proficiency 
at  the  outset,  and  they  are  not  usuaUy  allowed  to  serve  long 
enough  to  acquire  it  by  experience.*     Realizing  this,  the 
councillors  as  a  whole  are  disposed  to  regard  the  judgment  of 
a  committee  as  no  better  than  their  own  individual  opinions 
upon  the  matter  in  quest  on ;  hence  they  set  aside  committee 
recommendations  without  much  compunction.    This  con- 
dition of  things  has  tended  to  deprive  committeemen  of  an 
adequate  sense  of  final  responsibiKty,  to  put  a  premium 
upon  haphazardness  in  committee  work,  and  in  general  to 
discredit  the  committee  system.    Yet  large  councils  must  do 
much  of  their  work  through  committees ;  they  are  by  their 
very  size  precluded  from  handling  directly  the  host  of 
matters  which   come  before  them  and  must  be  studied 
with  care.     Accordingly,  the  propaganda  for  smaller  city 
councils  derives  some  of  its  support  from  the  feeling  that, 
since  the  committee  system  cannot  be  made  to  serve  the 
cause  of  efficient  administration,  the  only  feasible  alterna- 
tive is  to  remove  the  necessity  for  its  existence. 

The  powers  of  the  American  city  council  defy  any  attempt 
at  concise  summary.  In  no  two  cities  are  they  exactly 
aUke,  and  even  in  the  same  city  they  change  from  time  to 
time  as  the  result  of  special  statutory  enactment.  In  most 
municipahties,  however,  except  those  which  have  adopted 
commission  government,  the  powers  of  the  council  rep- 
resent a  residuum;  they  are  no  more  than  the  remnants 
of  a    once    comprehensive   jurisdiction  which    has    been 

•Newly deoted  oonnoilmen  an  at  fint  put  upon  unimportant  oom- 
mjttees.  After  reelection  they  expect  a«ignment  to  J^te^Z 
8T«iter  importance ;  a  councilman  who  lenree  three  or  four  term*  ezpeota 
a    promotion"  in  each  term.    Thi.  me«is  that.  unle«  he  StJ^  a 


THB  CITY  COUNCIL 


199 


steadfly  dwindling  during  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years.  Such 
powers  as  still  remain  may  be  conveniently  classified  under 
the  two  heads  of  legislative  and  administrative  authority ; 
but,  as  the  former  group  is  much  the  more  important,  it 
should  for  purposes  of  study  be  subdivided  into  various 
subsidiaty  divisions. 

The  legislative  powers  of  city  councils  extend,  first  of  all,  i.  Le«i«ta- 
to  such  matters  relating  to  the  general.structure  of  municipal  *''"'p°''""' 
government  as  are  not  provided  for  in  the  city  charter  or 
the  general  statutes.    It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  common 
rule  of  law  that,  when  any  power  seems  to  appertain  to  a 
municipal  corporation  and  the  city  charter  is  silent  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  such  power  shall  be  exercised,  the 
city  council  may  determine  the  matter.*    This  it  usually 
does  by  ordinance;  but  it  may,  under  certain  limitations,  (a)  geiumi: 
proceed  by  mere  resolution     As  a  rule,  the  city  charter  and 
the  statutes  cover  all  the  essentials  of  municipal  organization. 
They  determine  the  structure  of  government,  the  terms  of 
officers,  their  compensations,  and  their  duties ;  but  if  they 
fail  to  make  detailed  provisions  on  such  points  the  city 
council  may  do  so. 

In  the  second  place   the  legislative  powers  of  the  city  (6)  ofdi- 
council  usually  include  the  right  to  make  ordinances  in  3^21"* 
exercise  of  the  municipality's  police  power.*    Wit'iin  this  p**"* 
rather  broad  field  is  comprised  suitable  local  legislation  for  the  ^^^ ' 
protection  of  life  and  property,  as  well  as  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  pubUc  health  and  morals.    Ordinances  relating  to 
traffic  in  the  streets ;  the  establishment  of  fire  hmits  and  the 
regulation  of   fire  hazards;  building  laws;  sanitary  and 
health  regulations;  ordinances  providing  for  the  inspection 

'  Cascaden  v.  Waterloo,  106  Iowa,  673. 

•  A  full  discussion  of  this  topic  may  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  "Ordi- 
nances exercising  the  PoUoe  Power"  in  J.  P.  Dillon'.  Lav  of  Municipal 
Corporationi  (5  vota.,  Boston.  1911),  I.  oh.  xvL 


200 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


(e)  finui- 
eU; 


of  goods  offered  for  sale,  or  for  standarduing  weights  and 
measures ;  restrictions  upon  the  storage  of  dangerous  ma- 
terials ;  bill-board  regulations ;  rules  governing  theatres  and 
other  places  of  amusement:  all  these  afford  examples  of 
the  exercise,  by  legislation,  of  the  local  police  power.  Au- 
thority to  make  some  of  these  regulations  is  now  and  then 
intrusted  to  some  special  administrative  board.  Traffic  in 
the  streets,  for  example,  may  be  put  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  street  commissioners  or  of  the  police  authorities; 
the  making  of  sanitary  regulations  is  often  turned  over  to 
the  municipal  board  of  health.  But  when  such  disposition 
has  not  been  ma-ile  by  the  city  charter  or  by  other  statutory 
enactment,  the  power  to  regulate  all  these  matters  by 
ordinance  belongs  to  the  city  council,  subject,  of  course,  to 
the  general  restrictions  governing  the  validity  of  municipal 
ordinances.*  In  the  larger  cities  the  tendency  has  on  the 
whole  been  to  take  more  and  more  of  this  authority  away 
from  the  council  and  to  vest  it  in  the  hands  of  the  adminis- 
trative authorities.  State  laws,  moreover,  are  steadily 
trenching  upon  the  field,  in  some  cases  leaving  very  little 
to  be  handled  by  any  city  authority. 

The  city  council's  legislative  powers,  again,  include  various 
matters  connected  with  municipal  finance.    In  most  cities 
the  council  determines  the  annual  tax-rate,  but  it  does  not 
decide  what  property  may  be  levied  upon,  this  matter  being 
almost   always   fixed   by   state  law.     The   council   often, 
but   not   always,   grants   exemptions   and   abatements   in 
taxation  matters.    It  also  makes  the  annual  appropriations. 
Sometimes  these  appropriations  are  put  together  into  a  bud- 
get and  laid  before  the  council  by  one  of  its  own  committees ; 
more  often  the  list  is  prepared  by  the  mayor,  and  in  a  few 
cities,  including  New  York,  by  a  board  of  estimate  and  appoi^ 
tionment.    But,  however  the  appropriations  may  originate, 
«  C/.  above,  pp.  86-89. 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


201 


they  can  become  eflfective  only  with  the  assent  of  the  councU. 
The  charters  of  a  few  cities,  notably  those  of  New  York  and 
Boston,  provide  that  the  council  may  in  no  case  increase 
Items  m  the  budget,  and  shaU  not  even  have  a  free  hand  in 
decreasmg  appropriations  laid  before  it.    In  New  York  for 
example,  changes  in  the  budget  even  by  way  of  deciiase 
may  be  made  against  the  will  of  the  mayor  only  by  a 
three-fourths  vote  of  the  council;    in  Boston  the  councU 
may  in  no  case  increase  the  estimates,  and,  save  with  the 
mayors  approval,  may  reduce  them  only  by  a  two-thirds 
vote.     In  most  other  cities  the  council  may  augment  or  di- 
mimsh  the  appropriations,  subject,  of  course,  to  a  veto  of 
such  action  by  the  mayor.»    The  city  council,  again,  con- 
tmues  to  be  an  important  factor  in  the  exercise  of  the  city's 
borrowmg  powers.     AU  loan  orders,  whether  authorizing 
temporary  or  bonded  indebtedness,  must  as  a  rule  have  its 
assent.    The  council,  it  is  true,  is  not  the  only  authority 
possessmg  power  to  borrow  on  the  credit  of  the  city.    Not 
mfrequently  the  legislature  gives  this  right  to  water  boards, 
park  boards,  or  other  administrative  bodies.     In  general 
however    borrowing  projects  must  go  before  the  council 
tor  consideration. 

Within  the  council's  legislative  jurisdiction,  likewise,  falls  w  fn«H 
the  determmation  of  many  general  matters  relating  to  the  """"" 
prevision   of  pubUc   utiUties.'    In   most   American   cities 
the  mumcipal  council  has  authority,  usually  under  very  strin- 

nf  'IZ  *  •"*"^?''  o'  n"«»y  intereetiiur  matters  pertainioff  to  the  method. 
l^ir"!S!l  "PP^Pri-tion..  which  caZtTS,lXS  h^ 

WTO)  aS T^  "  ^r*^P«'  AdminutraHon  and  Accountint  (New  Y«k. 
dS  tJe  L  fi  P"''''^*^"  «°  *^  object  i«med  from  time  U,  time 
^^  the  l«t  five  ye«  by  the  New  York  BH„*a  of  MmddpU  B^ 

Pond^lf'*"^"*'  ,*!*'**  oounoU's  powers  is  dealt  with  at  length  in  O  L. 
^^^_^n^c^pal  Control  of  Public  UHHUe.  (New  York.  l^X^ 


chJiM; 


"^*****"^ 


202 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


(e)  mia- 
ceilaneous. 


gent  limitations  prescribed  by  the  state  constitution  or  by 
statute, to  grantsuch  franchises  to  pubUc-service  corporations 
as  the  convenience  of  the  citizens  may  require,  and  to  deter- 
mine the  duration  and  detailed  provisions  of  such  franchises. 
On  the  who!  3,  no  municipal  power  has  been  more  grossly 
abused  than  this.    It  is  as  a  franchise  authority  that  the 
city  councU  has  achieved  its  acme  of  inefficiency  and  in- 
competence.   Accordingly,  in  keeping  with  the  usual  policy 
of  depriving  subordinate  authorities  of  any  power  which 
they  show  a  disposition  to  abuse,  many  states  have  put 
stringent  Umitations  on  the  franchise  prerogative  of   the 
city   councils.    Sometimes  by  constitutional   or  statutory 
enactments  they  forbid  them  to  grant  franchises  for  a  longer 
period  than  twenty  or  thirty  years,  or  they  make  all  votes 
of  councils  relative  to  franchises  subject  to  popular  referen- 
dum.   Sometimes,  again,  they  arrogate  to  themselves  a  part 
at  least  of  the  franchise-granting  power,  and  exercise  it 
directly.    The  r61e  of  the  city  council  in  this  field  has  become 
steadily  less  important.    On  the  other  hand,  when  the  city 
Itself  owns  and  operates  any  pubUc  service,  such  as  a  water 
or  a  Ughting  plant,  the  councU  usuaUy  possesses  the  right 
to  regulate  by  ordinance  the  terms  and  incidents  of  such 
service.    In  most  cases  the  service  is  in  the  immediate 
administrative  jurisdiction  of  a  special  board  or  commi*- 
sioner,  and  the  councU  merely  determines  broad  matters 
of  general  management.     The  question   as   to   whether 
the   administration  of  municipal  services  by  authorities 
mdependent  of  the  councU  is  a  poUcy  which  makes  for 
efficiency   need   not  be  discussed  at  this  point.    It  wiU 
be  approached  from  a  somewhat  different  angle  in  a  kter 
chapter.* 

Finally,  there  is  a  considerable  group  of  miscellaneous 
matters  to  which  the  ordinance  power  of  the  city  councU 

» Below,  oh.  X. 


THB  CITY  COUNCIL 


203 


extends.*  These  do  not  lend  themselves  very  readily  to 
classification,  but  they  embrace  such  things  as  the  fix- 
ing of  locations  for  city  buildings,  the  acceptance  or  rejec- 
tion of  permissive  powers  granted  to  the  city  by  statute,  the 
passing  of  resolutions  that  indicate  to  the  legislature  the 
city's  attitude  on  matters  of  pending  legislation,  and  so  on. 

Despite  its  narrowed  authority,  the  average  city  council  Theomm- 
deals,  therefore,  with  a  goodly  variety  of  matters,  and  ul^'lSS^ 
it  is  not  surprising  that  its  annual  output  of  municipal  ***^- 
ordinances,  orders,  and  resolutions  is  very  large.    The  re- 
vised ordinances  of  Chicago  make  up  two  solid  volumes  of 
over  a  thousand  pages  each,  and  other  large  cities  make  a 
nearly  equal  showing.    Each  year  a  good-sized  document  is 
required  to  promulgate  new  ordinances  and  amendments  to 
old  ones.    No  limit  is  fixed  either  by  law  or  by  public  opinion 
to  the  number  of  ordinances  that  a  city  council  may  enact 
on  matters  within  its  purview;    the  only  requisites  are 
that  the  measures  shall  all  be  enacted  in  due  form,  and  shall 
not  be  unreasonable  or  oppressive  in  character,  but  general  in 
their  application  and  consistent  with  the  policy  of  the  state 
as  expressed  in  its  statute-books.     Since,  however,  these 
limitations  have  by  judicial  decisions  been  applied  in  different 
states  with  varying  degrees  of  strictness,  it  is  only  by  a  careful 
study  not  only  of  the  laws  but  of  the  precedents  that  one  can 
tell  whether  a  council  has  or  has  not  the  authority  to  deal 
with  any  given  matter.    Only  a  trained  lawyer  can  give  an 
accurate  answer  to  such  a  question,  and  even  he  cannot 
always  be  sure  of  his  ground.    Hence  it  is  that  a  council 
rarely  acts  upon  any  new  legislative  project  without  first 
ascertaining  the  scope  of  its  rights  from  the  city's  law  de- 
partment.    As  for  the  ordinary  citizen,  he  is  presumed  to 

'  The  exact  powers  of  the  ooancil  in  amy  city  can  be  asoertained  only 
by  a  sp««al  stndy  <rf  the  munioipaiity  in  question.  Some  useful  iuforma- 
bon,  however,  with  references  to  authoritative  sources,  may  be  found  in 
A.  R.  Hatton's  Digett  of  City  Charter*  (Chicago,  1906),  107-228. 


I 


mm 


a.  Ad- 

mlniatra- 

tivepowen. 


204  GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 

know  both  the  laws  and  the  ordinances  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lives,  a  legal  fiction  that  does  not  lose  any  of  iU 
absurdaty  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  is  necessaiy  as  a  work- 
ing innciple  of  judicial  administration.  The  whole  mass 
o  mumcipal  Uw  is  set  before  the  public  with  only  a  pretence 

t!!^  Tu^^"^^'""  ""  P"^'  ""«"**«»'  ^d  re- 
pealed with  bewildenng  frequency;  and  the  entire  body  of 

city  ordinances  is  no  sooner  codified  than  the  oncoming 

flood  of  amending  enactments  sweeps  away  much  of  its 

value  as  a  trustworthy  guide.    Narrowing  the  city  council's 

lepslative  jundiction  has  certainly  not  reduced  its  legishtive 

output.  B«»""»o 

Then  there  are  the  administrative  powers  of  city  councils 
As  a  matter  of  political  theory,  city  councils  ought  to  have 
no  admmistrative  powers;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  do 
perfrrm   such   functions,   and   in   many   cities   this  part 
of  their  work  is  of  much  importance.    In  some  cities,  both 
large  and  small,  the  council  still  retains  the  right  to  make 
appomtments  to  certain  municipal  offices ;»  in  those  in 
which  the  mayor  makes  the  appointment,  the  council  (or. 
where  there  are  two  chambers,  the  upper  branch  of  it)  must 
confirm  such  appomtment  before  it  becomes  effective.    The 
ments  and  faults  of  this  system  as  discussed  elsewhere ;« but 
wherever  it  exists  it  is  a  substantial  power.    In  a  few  cases 
contracts  can  be  awarded  only  with  the  council's  consent. 
Most  city  councils,  furthermore,  have  the  right  to  require 
stated  reports  from  the  various  administrative  departments, 
and  they  may  mvestigate  any  of  these  departments  when 
they  choose  to  do  so.     These  powers  are  not  intended 
to  give  the  council  any  right  to  interfere  in  the  direct  ad- 
ministration of  city  departments,  but  not  infrequently  they 
have  been  made  to  serve  thi-  purpose.    As  the  report  of  the 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


205 


Boston  Finance  Committion  disclosed,  a  large  part  of  the 
time  of  a  city  council  may  be  spent  in  discussing  question, 
relatmg  to  contracts,  to  the  hiring  of  labor,  or  to  the  mayor's 
appomtments,  with  none  of  which  has  it  any  legal  right 
to  mterfere.»    What  the  councU  cannot  bring  about  as  a 
body,  moreover,  individual  councilmen  usuaUy  manage  to 
secure.    Many  of  them  spend  their  time  in  besieging  the 
mayor  and  the  heads  of  departments  to  appoint  their  friends 
to  places  on  the  city  pay-roU,  to  give  out  minor  contracts  to 
political  supporteiB,   or  to   order  suppUes  from   favored 
stores.    If  heads  of  departments,  trying  to  perfonn  the 
duties  laid  upon  them  by  law,  refuse  such  appeals,  their 
official  hves  are  made  miserable  by  scurrilous  attacks  at 
council  meetings,  where  men  can  utter  slanders  under  the 
cloak  of  privilege,  or  can  prefer  trumped-up  charges  as  the 
basis  of  demands  for  council  investigation  into  the  affairs  of 
departments.    In  this  extra-legal  and  wholly  indefensible 
fashion  city  councils  have  in  matters  of  pure  administration 
often  exerted  powers  which  the  city  charter  never  intended 
to  bestow.    The  reason  for  all  this  is  not  far  to  seek.    Patron- 
age IS  administrative,  not  legislative.    Councils  that  confine 
themselves  strictiy  to  legislative  functions  not  only  find  com- 
paratively little  that  excites  the  real  interest  of  their  mem- 
bers, but  have  small  opportunity  to  give  councihnen  any- 
tiung  that  wiU  serve  to  increase  their  own  poUtical  strength. 
1  he  power  to  influence  the  patronage  that  usuaUy  goes  with 
administrative  authority  is  what  the  councilmen  in  most 
cities  seem  to  want ;  and  they  reach  out  after  it  even  when 
charter  provisions  attempt  to  put  it  far  beyond  their  grasp. 

loca  government,  has  come  to  mean  that  the  city  executive  ^J^ 
shall  have  most  of  the  real  authority,  and  that,  under  the  ^^^ 
name  of  legislative  jurisdiction,   the   council  may  have  """""^^ 
» BoBton  Finanoe  CommiMion.  BeporU,  II.  m  (1909). 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 

Whatever  is  left.  The  whole  trend  haa  been  in  the  direction 
of  reducing  the  councU  to  a  body  which  makes  minor  ordi- 
nances, passes  the  appropriations  with  no  power  to  increase 
them  in  amount,  authorises  borrowing  when  necessary,  and 
does  Uttle  more.  The  only  marked  reaction  against  this 
tendency  is  to  be  found  in  those  cities  which,  by  adopting 
the  commission  form  of  government,  have  cast  overboard 
the  traditional  principle  of  division  of  powers.  Save  in  so 
far  as  the  city  council  may  profit  by  the  abandonment  of  this 
principle,  there  are  no  signs  that  it  wiU,  in  its  orthodox 
form,  ever  regain  its  former  position  of  prestige  and 
influence. 


RsraiaNcss 

to  the  United  StatM,"  in  his  Munieipd  AdminutraHon  (New  York,  1901) 
S  ,°T^**°°;  P«««»»«.  «<»  power,  of  city  oounoifa  o«  £,  J«, Jl 
«toly  itudied  only  in  the  ch^ter.  and  ordin«ei  ud  offloiJhMdbSJfci 
of  Uie  variou. mu^oipalitie. ;  but . ««ful  «unmi^ of  .X»S™™? 
be  found  to  A.  R.  Hatton'.  Dige^  of  City  CharUrTlcUo^  1908)  jT 
Fairhe'.  J?„av.  in  Uunicipal  AdminiHration  (New  tSTiMW  ooniit 
•n  exceUent  chapter  on  "AmericMm  Municipal  CoundS^^  «d  tJ^^ 
Inf. rndng  general  di«u«ion.  of  the  object  to  ftofcMor  P.  JdooTo?: 
j'^'^^cipd  Government  (New  York.  1909).  oh.  x.,  and  if  unW  Jl^^ 

1904).  ch.  IX.,  and  m  E.  D.  Durand's  articles  on  "CouncU  Oov^n««fe 

sr  ^'"iSS;""r*",»  '''^^^  ^c^  Q«-zrx^^e?6 

Wpt.,  Dec..  1900  .  Several  papers  dealing  with  various  pha««lDf  the 
«»uncdj.  organization  and  powers  have  ^pXed  from  ti.^  StiTe  to  tl 
^T^'T.V^l  ^***°'^  ^^<^P^  League.    Amo^  toeT^tj 

w%L    ?!^?  Municipal   Legislators  receive  a  Salaiy?"   bv  jZZ 

a^"'S  we  h^''"ft:°''  '  ^""«  Co..ncil?"T^ohn  A.bX 
(IW6)       Shall  we  have  One  or  Two  Legislative  Chambers?"  by  t^ 

SS;,Sr"l®-  S'^.^(180«):   «nd  "The  Necesrity  of  S^ting^JhW 
l^^lation  from  Admimstration."  by  P.  J.  Goodnow  (1898).    S^  K 
"Jf^"^  '^T"'"'  "™**  *'y  **•«  NatiomJ  Municipal  League  (New  York^ 
1900),  contains  some  mteresting  recommendations  to  r^  tn  thlJl? 
ization  and  powers  of  the  councU.    '°°*°*'**^°«  ^  "««^  *»  ^^  organ- 


CHAPTER  DC 


BMBt 


THB  MATOB 

A»  an  independent  organ  of  local  government  the  mayoi^  Tb« 
alty  is  a  distinctively  American  development.    It  does  not  ilSSX  m 
have  any  exact  counterpart  in  the  cities  of  Great  Britain  or  «•*>«• 
continental  Europe,  for  there  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  °*** 
city  '>  chosen  by  the  municipal  legiskture  and  serves  as 
its  presiding  officer.*    The  development  of   the  office  of 
mayor  to  independence,  and  in  the  natural    course    of 
events  to  power,  has  been  the  outstanding  feature  of  the 
nineteenth  century  in  the  evolution  of  American  municipal 
institutions,  and  is  one  of  the  most  striking  results  of  the 
emphasis  laid  upon  the  doctrine  of  divided  powers. 

In  the  boroughs  of  the  cr'  >:dal  period  there  was,  as  has  its  d«vdop. 
been  pointed  out  in  previous  chapters,  no  attempt  to  separate  ""* 
administrative  from  legishitive  functions  in  local  govern- 
ment.*   The  sole  organ  of  borough  administration  was  the 
council ;  and  of  this  body  the  mayor  was  simply  the  presiding 
officer,  as  he  is  in  English  boroughs  at  the  present  day.» 
Sometimes  the  mayor  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the 
colony  in  which  the  borough  was  located ;  in  other  boroughs 
he  was  chosen  by  the  councillors  from  among  their  own  i.  inth, 
number;  and  in  a  few  instances  he  was  elected  by  popular  "'"'' 
vote,  although  this  method  was  never  in  any  borough  a  regu- 

>  In  the  cities  of  Oraat  Britain  and  Fnnoe  the  mayor  pnddea  in  the 
BingJwjhambered  oounoil ;  in  the  dtiee  of  the  Qerman  Empire  tiie  borKo- 

mMtor  presides  in  the  upper  branch  of  the  bioamenJ  oonndL 
'See  above,  oh.  i.,  especially  pp.  14-8. 

^  J  ^°  !°"?^  °'.*^*  Southern  boroughs  the  term  I'intendant"  waa  used  to 
designate  the  ehief  mnnidpal  offloer. 

207 


208  OOVmNMINT  or  AlllRIOAN  CITIlt 

Ut  practice.*    The  mayor  of  the  colonial  borough  held  offioe 
for  a  single  year  only,  and  he  lerved  without  pay.*    But 
the  diatinguiriiing  featureof  hii  office  waa  that  it  gave  him  no 
special  powers.    He  waa,  to  be  sure,  the  prasiding  officer  at 
meeting!  of  the  councU,  and,  as  a  rule,  he  had  a  vote  like  the 
other  memben;   but  he  had  no  veto  power,  no  exclusive 
right  of  proposing  expenditures,  and  no  authority  to  nomi- 
nate or  appoint  borough  officers.     In  a  few  colonial  towns 
notably  in  New  York  and  Albany,  he  was  intrusted  with 
certam  minor  functions,  such  as  the  Ucensing  of  taverns,  the 
•upervision  of  the  market,  the  determination  of  petty  suits 
«t  law,  and  the  holding  of  coroners'  inquests;'  but  the  pre- 
Revolutionary  American  mayor  could  not  in  any  sense  be 
regarded  as  an  independent  administrative  officer  like  his 
descendant  of  the  present  day. 

The  Revolution  and  the  adoption  of  the  national  constitu- 
tion brought  m  a  new  theory  of  administration,  which  soon 
wrought  a  change  in  the  position  and  powers  of  the  mayor. 
Ample  evidence  of  this  change  appears  in  the  Baltimore 
charter  of  1796,  which  provided  that  the  mayor  should  be 
chosen,  for  a  two-year  term,  by  a  miniature  electoral  college, 
the  members  of  which  were  to  be  elected  by  the  voters  of  the 
Tjj^Mtf.     city,  two  from  each  of  the  eight  wards.    Only  property- 
t«of  17*..    owners   were  eUgible   to   the   office,  and  the  mayor  was 
to  receive  an  annual  saUiy.«    In  aU  this  the  influence  of 
tne  so-termed  federal  analogy  appears  veiy  plainly.    Even 
more  distmctly,  however,  it  is  shown  in  the  extent  and  nature 

'In  New  York  he  wh  appointed  by  the  sovernor ;  in  PhlUdelnW. 

I  In  pnotioe  reappointments  were  very  oommon.  ^^ 

•BeJ^  A.  Pwrhe  s  ir„«»,  „  Municipal  AdminiUratum  (New  York,  1908)! 
*  Lavt  of  Maryland,  1796,  oh.  68. 


9.  Aftar  the 

lUvohi- 

tion. 


TBI  MAYOR 

of  the  powen  whieh  the  eharter  intnieted  to  the  nuyw. 
In  the  fint  plaee,  the  mayoral  veto  here  makes  what  ia  pre- 
■umably  iti  first  appearance  in  a  city  charter;  for  one  of  the 
proviflioni  permitted  the  mayor  to  veto  any  ordinance  or  neo- 
lution  of  the  Baltimore  council,  with  the  limitation,  however, 
that  the  veto  might  be  overridden  by  a  three-fourtha  vote. 
In  the  second  place,  the  mayor  was  invested  with  certain 
powers  of  appointment ;  but  his  discretionary  authority  in 
this  direction  was,  for  the  time  being,  closely  restricted 
by  the  requirement  that  he  must  make  all  his  appointments 
from  lists  submitted  to  him  by  the  aldermen.  Finally,  by 
the  terms  of  this  charter  the  mayor  was  charged  with  the 
enforcement  of  all  the  city  ordinances ;  he  might  call  for 
financial  statements  from  the  officers  of  the  dty  treasury 
at  any  time,  and  he  was  authorised  to  make  recommenda- 
tions to  the  city  coimcil. 

It  is  at  this  early  point,  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  LKhMMof 
century,  that  we  find  the  principle  of  division  of  powers  mak-  2lki?^ 
ing  its  way  down  from  the  national  and  state  constitutions 
into  the  charters  of  cities  and  gaining  in  the  latter  a  firm 
anchorage.  The  mayor  is  no  longer  a  chief  colleague  among 
the  councilmen,  with  no  special  rights  except  that  of  presiding 
at  the  council  meetings.  He  begins  to  take  rank  as  an  inde- 
pendent organ  of  local  government,  with  powers  that  were 
somewhat  restricted,  it  is  true,  but  of  such  a  nature  that 
they  were  sure  to  increase  in  scope  and  importance.  During 
the  earlier  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  several  other 
cities  either  obtained  revisions  of  their  old  charters  or 
secured  new  ones,  and  in  practically  all  of  these  documents 
some  of  the  more  important  features  of  the  Baltimore  charter 
were  embodied.  The  idea  of  choosing  the  mayor  by  a 
system  of  indirect  election  seems  to  have  had  little  popularity, 
however ;  instead,  most  cities  preferred  and  adopted  the 
plan  of  electing  their  mayors  by  direct  popular  vote.    Boston 


210 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


S.  During 
the  earlier 
part  of  the 
nineteenth 
oentuiy. 


4.  During 
the  mid- 
century 
period. 


was  among  the  earliest  to  foUow  this  course,  which  was  en- 
jomed  m  her  first  charter,  in  1822.  Other  cities  foUowed, 
Philadelphia  in  1826,  New  York  in  1834. 

In  extension  of  its  powers  the  office  of  mayor  can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  made  much  headway  during  the  first  quarter  of 
the  nmeteenth  century.    The  Boston  charter  of  1822  gave 
the  mayor  somewhat  broader  appointing  prerogatives  than 
those  contained  in  the  Baltimore  charter  of  1796,  for  in 
Boston  the  mayor  might  appoint  whom  he  chose,  subject, 
however,  to  confirmation  by  the  aldermen ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  It  gave  him  no  veto  power.    Indeed,  such  extension  of 
mayoral  powers  as  occurred  during  this  quartei-centuiy  was 
due  not  so  much  to  new  authority  granted  by  charters  as  to 
the  personal  aggressiveness  of  some  of  the  men  who  held 
the   office.    An   interesting  example   is  afforded   by   the 
character  of  the  second  mayor  of  Boston,  Josiah  Quincy,  who 
showed  during  his  term  how  expansive  were  even  the  re- 
Btncted  charter  powers  when  appUed  by  one  who  cared  to 
exercise  them  fully.* 

During  the  years  prior  to  the  middle  of  the  century  the 
balance  of  power,  as  between  mayor  and  council,  was  fairly 
well  mamtained.  The  mayor  was  an  influential,  but  not  a 
dominant,  factor  in  city  affairs ;  for,  even  where  he  had  gained 
the  veto  and  appointing  powers,  the  council  still  held  a  firm 
hand  over  the  various  mmiicipal  departments,  supervising 
them  directly  throughits  committees  and  retaming  full  control 
over  city  finance.  As  time  went  on,  however,  the  balance  was 
slowly  but  surely  shifted  over  to  the  executive :  the  councU 


THE  MAYOR 


211 


lost  ground.     The  reason  why  it  lost  ground  has  already 
been  discussed.*    Where  it  lost,  the  mayor  eventually  gained. 
Functions  taken  from  the  council  were  often  given  to  newly- 
established  boards,  which,  although  at  the  outset   elected 
directly  by  the  people  ana  ?tiii  in  some  cases  so  chosen,  were 
in  time  usually  tran  feired  to  the  citegory  of  oflBcers  over 
which  the  mayor's  a  •pointing  povers  extended.*    In  other 
cases,  functions  take:.  Ivc^ji  tb.?  council  were  given  to  state- 
appointed  boards.    In   1860,  for  example,  the  Maryland 
legislature  transferred  the  police  administration  of  Baltimore 
to  a  state  board,  tnd  a  year  later  the  legislature  of  Illi- 
nois did  the  same  thing  for  Chicago.     In  1865  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York  took  from  the  council  of  the  metrop- 
olis its  control  of  fire  protection,  public  health,  and  licensing, 
and  put  all  these  powers  into  the  hands  of  state  boards. 
But  there  soon  came  a  reaction  against  this  state  interference 
in  the  affairs  of  city  departments,  and  in  some  cases  the 
legislature  restored  local  control.    Let  it  be  noted,  however, 
that  it  restored  control  over  these  departments  not  to  the 
council,  but  to  local  boards,  the  members  of  which  were 
thenceforth,  as  a  rule,  to  be  appointed  by  the  mayor.    In 
several  cities,  accordin^y,  a  substantial  increase  in  the 
mayor's  powers  came  about  through  a  term  of  state  inter- 
ference.   The  state  took  powers  from  the  council,  exercised 
these  powers  for  a  time  through  its  own  appointive  officials, 
and  then  handed   them  back  to  the  appointees  of  the 
mayor. 

« Above,  oh.  viiL 

*  The  reason  for  this,  m  ebewhera  explained,  may  be  found  in  the  faot 
Uiat  popular  election,  aa  a  method  ci  sdieoting  memben  (rf  administratiT« 
boards,  proved  a  complete  disappointment.  As  numagers  of  dty  depart- 
mento  the  council  committees  wore  inefficient  and  wasteful;  and  the 
boards  elected  by  popular  vote  in  the  largor  cities  were  not  appreciably 
better,  for  they  w«e  too  ottea  composed  <rf  men  whose  qualifications  were 
nmply  and  purely  political,  and  who  brought  to  the  supervision  at  their 
departmeats  no  administrative  skill  or  oH»bility  whatever. 


212 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIBS 


S.  During 

thelaat 

fi/tyyekta. 


Devtlop- 
ment  not 
uni/onn 
througliout 
the  United 
State*. 


Other  extensions  of  the  mayor's  powers  were  made  as  the 
second  haU  of  the  century  progressed.  The  practx"  of 
reqmnng  that  his  appointments  should  be  confimed  by  the 
aldermen  came  to  be  looked  upon  with  disfavor  in  some 

cities,  and  m  1882  Brooklyn  made  bold  to  abolish  it.  Tw 
York  soon  oUowed  this  lead ;  other  cities  of  the  state  cam^ 
into  hne  a  httle  later;  and  in  time  various  cities  in  other 
parts  of  the  country  adopted  the  plan  of  giving  the  mayor  a 
rather  free  hand  m  appointments.    Even  yet,  however   the 

durir i'?^'^  fi-inthegreatmafori'ty of  A^^ricl^ 
cities    but,  as  charters  are  revised,  the  drift  is  unmistakably 
away  from  rt.     In  the  field  of  municipal  finance  the  mayo^ 
has^o  made  substantial  gains  during  .he  last  few  decades. 
It  was  at  one  time  the  prevailing  right  of  the  councU  to  pre- 
pare  the  annual  budget,  but  this  right  has  now  in  many  cities 
passed  to  the  mayor.     So,  too,  have  the  power  to  apptv^ 
^e  award  of  contracts,  and  various  other  functions  fo^erly 
w^thm  the  purview  of  the  municipal  legiskture.    Along  wit  J 
all  this  has  gone  a  tendency  to  extend  the  term  for  which  the 
mayor  is  elected,  to  make  his  stipend  h^rger,  and  to^affoM 

athori^""^  '""^  ^°'  '''  '^  «--  o^  ^  ^^ 

Now  while  this  development  of  the  office  of  mayor  to  a 

dommatmg  position  in  American  municipal  adminLration 

can  be  clearly  followed  in  a  general  way  whenT^^^he 

THtr  '  "Y^'  '\  '"  "°*  P"^^  -  f-  -  ^--ities 
powers  of  the  mayor  have  dwarfed  into  insignificance  the 
and  Phdadelphia  this  is  not  at  aU  true,  for  the  counciLTf 

idTabtTh  "f*f  *  *^"^"'^"«  «^P  "P°-  th-  con- 
siderable share  m  local  administration.    It  is  impossible 

American  cities,  to  say  anything  broadly  or  without  hinje 


THE  MAYOR 


213 


reservation  Any  assertion  as  to  the  functions  of  the  mayor 
in  one  Enghsh  city  would  hold  true  of  English  mayoiB  in 
general,  and  any  outline  of  the  authority  possessed  by  the 
burgomaster  of  Cologne  or  Charlottenburg  might  be  appUed 
w  thout  any  miportant  modification  to  any  other  Pruwian 

:;Lt  b"*  V):  '^v  ^^*^"  °^  *'^  ^-*^  states tt; 

almost  be  said  that  whatever  functions  are  intrusted  to  the 

lodged  m  the  hands  of  some  one  else.    There  is,  in  fart 
hardly  a  single  statement  concerning  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
mayor  m  this  country  that  would  hold  true  of  anything  like 
aU  the  cities,  and  veiy  few  statements  that  would  ap^y  to 

ofSrnT"*'''?!''"-  Nevertheless,theesse.tialf^tLs 
of  the  office  can  at  least  be  set  forth  in  general  terms,  though 
any  such  description  must  necessarily  wind  its  way  tiougl  a 
difficult  maze  of  local  variations.  "™ugna 

TTie  mayor  is  in  practicaUy  aU  American  cities  elected  m,^^ 
by  direct  popukr  vote.    Candidates  for   this    Tffice   at^  ^^ 
nommated  by  the  same  procedure  that  is  establish^  L  t^ 

thTeL  "'"*''  "^'^^'^'^ ''  *^^  °*^-  «^-«-  officer! 
the  eection  is  everywhere  by  secret  baUot;  and  a  plurality 
o^  votes,  except  in  one  or  two  cities  that  have  adopt^he 

term  of  office  vanes  from  one  to  five  years.    Many  cities  in 
New  England  continue  the  amiual  term,  a  «h7o    w 
govemmentdays;  but  most  cities  of  mediJm  size  th^u^It 
the  and,  and  probably  a  majority  of  the  entire  numW  o 
whatever  size,  have  a  two-year  mayoral  term.    A  veiy  few 

ofThf  1!^*"^^"'  -^-d™ore,chie^^iS 
of  the  largest  population,  have  lengthened  the  mayor^ 

Sh*;  K^^^r^"-     ^°^  *^«  ^»**«r  -^  New  York 
Ruladelphia,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Boston,  and  filmore 

l^^TfT'"'"''''''^'^-'  »>"ti^ Boston, 2^ 
where  explamed,  the  mayor  may  be  recaUed  from  office 


214 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Tendency 
toward 
longer 
teimt. 


ReMons 
in  favor 
of  longer 
torma. 


at  the  end  of  two  years.*    Jersey  City  alone  has  adopted 
the  five-year  term. 

The  tendency  to  give  mayors  longer  tenns  in  office  has  been 
very  marked  during  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years.    Many 
cities  have  lengthened  the  period  from  one  to  two  years; 
and  those  which  now  leave  their  mayors  in  office  for  four 
years  have,  for  the  most  part,  changed  to  this  policy  during 
the  last  decade.    In  the  larger  cities  the  impression  that  a 
two-year  term  is  unprofitably  short  has  been  and  still  is 
gaimng  ground.    As  a  rule,  the  mayor  is  eUgible  to  reelec- 
tion when  his  term  has  expired ;  but  in  some  cases  the  city 
charter  precludes  this  reelection,  as,  for  example,  in  Phila- 
delphia.    On  the  whole,  reelections  are  common;   and  in 
many  cities  that  have  the  two-year  term  there  is  a  well- 
grounded  tradition  that  the  mayor  has  the  right  of  way  to 
renommation  as  the  candidate  of  his  own  poUtical  party 
If  he  so  desires,  a  feeling  which  also  operates  in  his  favor  at 
the  polling. 

In  large  cities,  where,  as  charters  nowadays  arrange  things, 
the  duties  and  powers  of  the  mayor  ar«  compUcated  and 
responsible,  the  two-year  term  is  too  short  to  be  satisfactory 
either  to  the  official  or  to  the  voters.    When  the  two-yew 
term  exists,  a  mayor  commonly  spends  the  first  year  of  his 
tenure  in  feeling  his  way  to  acquaintance  with  the  functions 
of  his  office,  and  the  second  year  in  starting  his  campaim 
for  reelection.  Consequently  the  voters  are  asked  to  givS 
a  second  term,  not  because  he  has  made  a  good  record,  but 
because  he  has  not  had  a  fair  opportunity  to  make  a  record 
of  any  sort     The  longer  term  of  four  years,  on  the  con- 
trary,  affords  him  ample  time  to  make  and  set  before  the 
voters  a  record  upon  which  they  may  pass  a  fair  judgment. 

•  In  some  other  oitiea,  notably  in  New  Vmfc  R***-  tu 


THE  MATOB 


216 


It «.  moreover,  none  too  long  for  this  purpose,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  in  American,  as  distinguished  from  European,  cities 
the  mayor  more  often  than  not  brings  no  local  administra- 
tive expenence  into  the  office  with  him.    He  must,  therefore 
avoid  mistakes  by  going  slowly,  learning  as  he  goes.    Ifitb^ 
urged  that  the  four-year  term  may  mean  a  heavy  penalty 
for  the  city  which  makes  an  unwise  selection,  it  may  now 
be  rephed  that  the  recaU  procedure,  as  described  in  another 
chapter,  affords  a  practicable  method  of  relief.    The  avail- 
abihty  of  this  safeguard  has,  indeed,  prompted  several  cities 
to  lengthen  official  terms. 

To  be  eligible  for  election  to  the  mayoralty  of  an  American  QoiiSc 
city  one  must  m  all  cases  be  a  qualified  voter.     Some  ^ 
city  charters  impose  no  additional  qualification.    But  in  San 
Francisco,  Phikdelphia,  Baltimore,  and  New  Orleans  five 
years  r^idence  in  the  city  is  exacted,  and  no  one  can  be 

T^iT'^Lo''''^'  "^"^  ^^  ^'^  "^^  fi^«  ye*^"  »  citisen  of 
the  Umted  States.  Several  cities  have  a  minimum  age  limit, 
which  vanes  from  twenty-five  years  in  Baltimore  and  FmJ. 
de  phia  to  thirty  years  in  New  Orleans.  Very  few  cities 
still  retam  a  property  qualification;  but  in  Baltimore  a 
property  assessment  of  two  thousand  dolla«  is  a  requisite 
to  ehgibihty,  and  in  Houston,  Texas,  no  one  may  hold  the 

ifZJ^r^"^.''''  '"  ^  '°'  '^'  y''^  '^^  owner 
of  real  estate  withm  the  city  limits.^    No  city  requires  that 

the  mayor  shaU  have  professional  qualifications^ch  as  are 
commoner  exacted  from  occupants  of  the  corresponding 
office  m  Germany;  «ui  nowhere  is  it  necessary  that  he  Aould 
have  had  any  prior  administrative  experience. 

offit  "in^H*^  o^  P«cti<f,  the  men  who  an*  elected  to  the  ii«  «^ 
office  m  the  smaUer  cities  are  usuaUy  drawn  from  those  t£^ 

who  have  already  served  the  city  in  some  other  official  ci^.  ^^ 

OtgtH  of  CUn  Charttn  (CUiMffo,  1806),  SWft-m  ■**•«•  «•»*<«. 


216 


GOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMBWCAN  CITIES 


Pirevioaa 

municipal 

ezpoieneo 

not 

neceHuy. 


pacity.    In  the  laixer  cities  this  custom  does  not  aeem  to  h« 
by  any  means  so  common.    Not  that  men  who  L^U  n^ 
pnor  pohtical  experience  are  there  veiy  of  ten  Ihosen  ^ 
mayors;  only  in  very  exceptional  cases  indJ^   u 
ht^tm  ariv.««^  J'     /i    .  "*'"""*"  cases,  mdeed,  has  a  man 

toTl™ ri^^  ^?J  '""'  P"™*"  ""  "  «-«  *ief  offlc" 

Z^»  _l.   I        °"'""»1»'  «P«rience.    FrtquenUy  they 
m  meo  who  have  „pi«i ,,  the  office  after  h.,L  h^  „Z 

■ulyeMeniiithestatelegiaktureoriiiCoiiBMsa  At  «„,_ 
«8  m  the  case  of  Mayor  Gaynor  of  New  Y°^;  Z^ 
«rved  a.  judge,  in  the  ,i  eo^T  Mot^',^  ^'" 

?^  rpKe'^-.t^32 

«  hat  of  mayor.  The  tenure  of  suboSlteX  offi^ 
mcludmg  membership  in  the  city  comicil,  do^nofriveS 
occupant  any  secure  place  in  the  poUticIl  ZeSl"^  mI 
who  serve  in  such  nosts  Hn  ««*  -.  m  "™eugnt.    Men 

eve  or  ear     Th2  ??         ^^^^  command  the  pubUc 

oT^en^ltoI^t^"  °®'"  ^  *'*  '^^^^^^  <"  *»^«  «t*te, 
even  m  the  party  oiganuations.    Furthermn~  ««-  -.1, 

sirrr'T^t'^"^"''-  offiTiTr;r:^ 

wnether  it  be  good  or  bad,  the  possession  nf  «  ».     •  •    , 
«o^M  ia  u^y  ^o^„;  withTTa^M'.-riTi:^ 

Sd  1L  o™       ^°  ""^  *'^°"'  *-  '    «  «t»t  to- 

C.re:rpr!ri-:yrr^^'"^'" 

"wra.     iJiat  18  true  enough;    but  the 


THE  MAYOR 


217 


record  is  not  so  familiar  to  municipal  vot««.  ««^  •   *u        , 

judge,  the  ^^o  li^'Xl"'  'T/'"  "*'«'  ^ 
better  not  .^ek  to  quXIL^^K    ''"°'  "  "^  "'^  ■««» 

means  that  the  avenurp  mo,  unfortunate,  for  it 

inaugurated :  but  it  id  a  bj*,,-*-     ^,  "^''^"  "wr  he  has  been 

.hef«t.,™d,'"«;;'„T^-*^',o*z'*"r°''""^* 

lengthening  the  n«,L  tlTw™'"™™'  "^  "^  '" 

vice     Th.  ™i-rV  ^"^  f^  '»  'he  pubUc  ki^  •!»«. 

make  L  go^;:?Ser^oA  ^ IT  *^l'""«'  '^ 
United  State..    THeoiT^^-^^;'"'^'" '"" 

-Uty  of  New  York  S  !l       «°f<™<"*ip,«>nghtthe  m.yo> 

'■»t«nces.    HrZ^i„?'*'  '"^"'   •"  exeeptionJ 
of  New  Yo,rri,         ''""»«  P«"«i  from  the  ni.yo»ltv 

-X  :^;he's"in":S' t".r  "t-  "^  *'  ^- 

<««lttobethe„«lerrf3.'"w^J^"''^^"    ■"»» 
make  one  a  tood  MnrfH  .  T       '       '  ""  'JoaUties  which 

n.Ie,  the  StZ^      ""^""^  °«~  ■«  not,  „  . 

M-ver,  tTe  Zlr'Z  '.SZrTtmT  "T"- 
mlagoniring  either  hi.  n.-,  !T  '  ""  term  without 
element  ™ong  a"  ^u'ZT^.  "'  ""  mdopendent 

With  in  our  gen^'ln  ^^  ""''*'  "  °"  """y  «»' 

«v«:i't:^r.tteTS!.™:"^."^'"'"™'"^  s-- 

'  ™**  °^  "^yo'  cames  an  annual  salaiy.  ^^ 


218 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIS8 


MmriM 
do  not 
UMuUy 
cover  out" 
tay. 


Thia  may  be  fixed  iu  amount  by  a  provision  of  the  charter ; 
or  it  may  be,  and  perhaps  more  commonly  is,  left  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  council,  with  the  restriction  that  it  is  not  to 
be  increased  or  diminished  during  the  term  of  a  present  in- 
cumbent.   The  amount  of  the  mayor's  salary  varies  roughly 
with  the  size  of  the  city :   New  York  pays  915,000,  Philap 
delphia  $12,00n,  Chicago  end  Boston  110,000  per  year.*    In 
smaller  cities  the  stipend  ranges  from  the  latter  sum  down 
to  SIOOO,  or  even  less.    Compared  with  the  remimeration 
of  the  corresponding  oflBce  in  the  cities  of  other  cotmtries, 
these  salaries  give  no  sign  of  municipal  niggardliness.    In  the 
cities  of  England  and  France  the  mayor  receives  no  salary, 
but  only  an  allowance  for  actual  expenses.    In  Germany  the 
burgomasters  are  paid,  and  are  thought  to  be  well  paid,  as 
cturrent  German  salaries  go;   but,  city  for  city,  they  are 
dealt  with  less  generously  than  their  American  colleagues. 
Still,  it  is  a  fact,  vouched  for  by  most  of  those  who  have  been 
directly  concerned,  that,  even  though  his  stated  remunerar 
tion  may  be  fair  enough,  the  American  mayor  takes  his 
office  and  holds  it  at  a  financial  sacrifice.    When  his  term 
comes  to  an  end,  he  usually  finds  himself  poorer  in  all  but 
reputation,  and  sometimes  even  in  that.    All  this,  however, 
is  not  because  the  stipends  are  too  small,  but  because  the 
demands  upon  his  private  purse  are  too  heavy.    Once 
elected,  he  finds  that  the  campaign  from  beginnir  ,^  to  end  has 
cost  him  a  good  deal,  —  if  not  the  whole  of  at  least  one  year's 
salary,  he  is  accounted  fortunate.    In  some  cities  the  law 
requires  that  candidates  shall  publish  an  accurate  return  of 
their  campaign  expenses;    and  these  records  give  ample 
evidence  not  only  that  those  who  can  afford  to  spend  mon^ 


>  In  wme  omm  the  stipend  ia  in  ezoeas  of  that  whidi  the  govwnor  of 
the  tUte  raoeiTes.  Thna,  the  mayor  at  New  Twk  City  geU  $6000  pw 
umnm  more  than  the  govnnor  of  New  Ywk,  uid  the  mayw  <rf  Chieac^ 
$4000  more  than  the  goremor  of  Illinoia. 


THE  MAYOR 


219 


are  expected  to  do  it,  but  also  that  they  often  rise  valiantly 
to  thiB  eiq)ectation.  The  publiriied  returns  of  a  recent  Boi 
ton  election  showed  that  the  two  leading  candidates  ex- 
pended between  them,  from  their  own  pockets  and  for  legiti- 
mate ejqjenses,  sums  amounting  to  about  $150,000,  or  nearly 
twodoUars  orevenrvotepoUed.  And  this,  it  may  be  noted, 
did  not  mclude  contributions  from  supportem  of  their  rJi 
spective  candidacies.  ^  «v 

the  closmg  of  the  poUs.  He  is  the  subject  of  daily  appeals  ^^ 
from  every  conceivable  source.  Unless  he  spencfa  rS^  "^' 
he  won  acquires  a  reputation  for  dose-fistedness  and  k 
rated  as  not  being  a  good  fellow,  aU  of  which  is  liable  to  mili- 
tate  agamst  hxn  chances  of  renomimition  and  reflection. 
The  mayor  is  supposed  to  entertain  the  city's  guests  when 
they  come,  and  although  the  city  budget  usuaUy  p,t,vide8 
a  fund  for  the  puipose,  this  does  not  always  covi  L  ou^ 
^y.    It  IS  not  that  the  amount  of  each  individual  disbune- 

the  total  at  the  end  of  the  year  is  hkely  to  sunrise  any  one 
who  has  not  encounter^  the  practice  at  close  range.  C 
themore,  it  frequently  happens  that  the  mayorTTe  leader 
keen  tir  T"^  0'«ani.ation.  As  such  he  is  expected  to 
keep  the  machme  rumiing  smoothly.  In  times  wWch  are 
now  argely  gone  by  he  did  this  by  a  shrewd  use  of  his  poi^ 

butlhff  "^Zi*"' "^  *""^  "on^mpetitive  cont«l^ 
but  thejncreased  strictness  of  charter  provisions  i^lating 

lat^-  K.r"^  °'  *^«*  Prerogatives  has  seriously 
ZZ  a'*'^'^  *^  ^^^  **^*  P*^  organisation  in  the^ 
tZcZ^  A^^^iingly,  he  is  nowadays  often  forced  to 

It  the  !2    f  :r^  °^^^  **  ^  «^  «^^e  «ther  than 

count  T  "^  '^',  "*^-    ^«"  '^'^^^  ^  taken  into  a^ 

houlH '  ""'''''  'f^'  ^"«^  ^  it  ^  fi«d  well  up  in  Z 
thousands,  can  rarely  be  deemed  anything  mor«  than  I 


^maliM 


Bow 
nayon 
Nooup 
tbamMlvM. 


vi0ll6fAl 

increMe  of 
the  nutyor- 
•Ity  in  influ. 
•aoe. 


220  OOVBRNMINT  OF  AMIRICAN  CITI18 

mmbunement  for  expenditum  tUt  u«  expected  of  him 
dunng  hu  election  and  after  it. 

Whatever  may  be  the  theory  of  the  office,  the  wrtual  fact 
is  that,  m  the  great  majority  of  eaaee,  the  mayon  give 
their  own  tm»e  to  American  cities  without  direct  penLa 
gam.    This  18  not  meant  to  imply  that  mayon  are,  as  • 
nile,  men  of  any  uncommon  altruism.     On  the  contraiy. 
they  are.  hke  most  other  men,  quite  ready  to  forego  direct 
pecumary  advantage  from  their  tenure  of  office  so  long  as 
recoupment  comes  to  them,  as  it  often  does,  in  a  it>undaS>ut 
way.    If  a  mayor,  for  instance,  is  connected  with  any  form 
of  private  business,  he  necessarily  trails  this  with  him  into 
the  pubhc  gase.    He  becomes,  as  it  were,  an  effective  pre. 
agent  m  his  own  interests.    Sometimes,  indeed,  he  sive. 
the  credit  nde  of  his  private  ledger  in  ways  which,  to  say 
the  least  show  a  misty  sense  of  official  dignity.    A  mayor 
who,  while  m  office,  continues  his  proprietorship  of  a  weekly 
newspaper  whicH  draws  its  chief  patromige,  both  in  circi*. 
lation  and  m  at      tising,  from  pubUcn^rvice  corporations, 
municipal  contractors,  and  seekers  for  poUtical  preferment, 
affords  a  good  example  of  at  least  one  way  in  which  office! 
holding  can  be  made  to  yield  an  indirect  profit.    The  actual 
situation  IS  thus  unfortumite.    The  right  sort  of  mayor 
mast  hold  his  post  ahnost  always  at  a  financial  sacrifice; 

L  nr'^KT  T  """"^  "^y  °^«  ^*  yield  a  profit  which 
18  none  the  less  lucrative  because  it  comes  in  an  indirect 
and  unofficial  way.  «"«wi, 

The  remarkable  increase  in  the  powers  of  the  American 
mayor  dunng  the  last  half^tuiy  has  already  been  pointed 

the  two  chief  organs  of  municipal  government;  since  that 
era  he  has  almost  everywhere  risen  to  local  mastery.  In 
fact  the  process  of  strengthening  the  mayoralty  in  reUtion 
to  the  other  arms  of  city  government  has  had  the  proportiona 


TBI  MATOB 


321 


of  t!M 


of  a  general  moTament,  and  few  dtiea  have  failed  to  fed  ita 
influence.    Whether  this  development  has  been  altogether 
»alut«y  or  only  jmrtiy  «,  i.  a  matter  upon  which  the  doe- 
tow  disagree.    At  any  rate,  the  facts  to^y  seem  to  war. 
rant  the  assertion  that  in  neariy  aU  the  krger  American 
cities  the  mayor  is  the  chief  figure  in  matten  of  munidpal 
administration,  and  that  in  many  cities  his  direct  influence, 
even  m  the  fidd  of  what  is  commonly  termed  munidpal 
legislation,  is  not  to  be  disregarded.  These  powen,  of  coureT 
vaiy  m  extent  and  importance  from  dty  to  dty.    Some 

of  them  are  exerdsed  in  neariy  every  dty,  othei.  are  preroga- 
tives of  the  office  in  only  a  few.  Speaking  broadly,  however, 
one  may  group  the  powers  of  the  mayor  under  four  heads  • 
namely,  the  power  to  recommend  legiriation,  the  veto  power 
powers  connected  with  appointments,  and  powers  connected 
with  appropriations. 

It  has  been  the  theory  of  munidpal  oi^anisation  in  i.  n. 
America  that  the  mayor  ought  to  have  no  share  in  legis-  f^l^ 
lation,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  enactment  of  dty  ordinances  •  KST 
but  with  this  theory  the  actual  conditions  have  for  a  lon^ 
time  failed  to  coincide.    It  is  true  that  in  a  few  cities,  notably 
in  Chicago,  the  mayor  is  the  council's  predding  officer;  but 
this  18  a  practice  quite  out  of  accord  with  the  general  rule 
for  m  by  far  the  krger  number  of  American  dties  the  council 
chooses  its  own  predding  officer,  and  the  mayor  does  not 
tu^e  any  part  in  its  sesdons,  or  even  attend  them.    This 
does  not  mean,  however,  that  the  mayor  has  no  influence 
m  shapmg  the  council's  actions.    On  the  contraiy,  notwith- 
standmg  the  doctrine  of  separation  of  power,  he  has  com- 
monly more  real  influence  in  munidpal  legidation  than  any 
counciUor,  or  even  than  several  councillora.    This  dired; 
influence  on  local  legidation  arises  from  his  exerdse  of  two 
prerogatives,  one  podtive  and  the  other  negative,  one  known 
•a  the  right  to  suggest  ordinances  by  message,  the  other 


vliMitkto 


ThaoMyor'a 


aaa         oovkrnmint  of  amirican  citiw 

known  m  the  veto  power.    The  practice  of  addnMing  the 
councU  by  meeuge  or  communicttion  has  in  effect  become 
•  right  to  initiate  measures  in  that  body ;  for  a  message  from 
the  mayor  is  invariably  referred  to  the  appropriate  couneU 
committee  for  report,  and  this  report  puts  the  matter 
squarely  before  the  councU  for  action.    Moreover,  among 
the  members  of  the  council  the  mayor  always  has  one  or  more 
pohtical  friends  who  are  kr  ^  to  be  in  such  close  touch 
with  him  as  to  be  in  a  sense  his  unofficial  reprasentativee. 
These  counciUors  usuaUy  see  that  matters  recommended 
in  the  mayor's  communications  get  such  support  as  they 
can  command;  hence,  when  the  pohtical  affiliations  of  the 
mayor  are  identical  with  those  of  a  majority  of  the  council- 
men,  It  not  infrequently  happens  that  a  recommendation 
from  the  mayor's  office  is  tantamount  to  councU  action. 
It  18  to  be  remembered  moreover,  that,  since  the  mayor  is 
often  the  recognised  leader  of  his  party  organisation  in  the 
city,  his  messages  are  understood  to  be  the  orders  of  the 
poUtical  machine  and   are  hence  not  to  be  disregarded 
by   those    counciUors  who    desire   reputation    for   party 
rf^arity.  ' 

The  mayor's  right  to  address  the  council  by  message  or 
communication  is  unrestricted.    Ordinarily  there  is  a  long 
enunciation  of  suggestions  in  his  inaugural  address.    Then 
from  tun  ^  to  time  foUow  shorter  missives  deaUng  with  special 
matters,  and  not  infrequently  accompanied  in  each  case  by 
the  draft  of  an  ordinance  prepared  by  the  city's  Uw  officers 
at  the  mayor's  request.    This  the  councU  is  asked  to  enact 
M  It  stands.    Just  how  far  the  councUlors  heed  these  execu- 
tive suggestions  depends  upon  the  caliber  and  personal  in- 
fluence of  the  mayor,  upon  the  makeup  of  the  council,  and 
upon  the  poUtical  rektions  between  the  two  authorities. 
When  the  mayor  and  tK.   ouncU  represent  different  poUtical 
parties,  executive  recommendations  may  count  for  very 


TBI  MATOR 


333 


httle;  tode^i,  the  v«y  fact  th«t  the  nuiyor  favon  a 
project  »  in  «,ch  c*  likdy  to  be  ««aried  by  the 
majonty  of  the  counciUow  M  the  bert  rewon  for  tW 

The  negative  influence  of  the  mayor  upon  local  legidation 
.n-mg  from  hi.  po«e.«on  of  the  veto  power  canT^  i^ 
nature  be  mdicated  with  greater  definitene...  Moet  city 
chartem  make  provision  that  any  ordinance,  re«>lution,  or 

ttt'hrT"*  fT'  "*"  '*  **"  P*^  *'^«  «°«»«a  (or  the 
two  branches  of  the  council,  when  euch  exist),  be  sent  to  the 
mayor.    If  the  mayor  approves  it.  he  signs  it ;  whereupon 
the  measure  goes  mto  foree.    If  he  does  not  approve  \he 
proposal  he  may  return  it  unsigned  to  the  council  within 
a  prescribed  tmie  (u«,ally  five,  seven,  or  ten  days),  and  in 
returning  It  he  state,  his  reason,  for  withb.I  In^  4  «gn». 
ture     When  there  are  two  chambere,  he  seu  i .  t  to  the  one 
m  which  the  measure  originated.    After  conridering  the 
mayor  s  reasons,  the  councU  take,  a  vote  upon  the  qu«tion 
ofsustammghisveto.    If  a  prescribed  majority  of  the  coun- 
cdlors  vote  against  sustaining  it,  the  measure  then  goes  into 
effect  without  the  mayor's  u^«»nt.    When  there  are  two 
branch^,  of  the  councU,  the  prescribed  majority  must  be 
obtamed  m  each.    As  a  rule,  the  mayor's  veto  may  be  over- 
ndden  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  one  or  both  councils,  as  the 
case  may  be;   but  in  some  cities  the  requirement  is  even 
rr  "^«       «  ^*^°"'  ior  example,  it  is  three-fourths, 
and  m  San  Francisco  it  is  seven-ninths;    a  few  cities 
notably  Philadelphia,  fix  the  ratio  at  thre^-fiftlT  If  tTe 
required   majority    camiot   be   had,    the   mayor's   action 
remams  decisive  and  the  council's  project  can  advance  no 

J^^T"^""^  "^^^  *^*  P"^*"^  ^  ^««««  ^  ^^  national 
and  state  governments,  it  is  usuaBy  provided  that,  if  the 
mayor  neither  signs  nor  returns  an  ordinance,  resolution 


..TkaTtlo 


ThtflM- 

ddnaiyof 
thavrte. 


veto  is 
iBUBkd]Md 


224  GOVBBNMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIBS 

or  other  measure  within  a  certain  period  after  it  has  been 
sent  up  to  him  by  the  council,  the  measure  goes  into  force 
without  his  signature.    But  there  is  in  the  municipal  sys- 
tern  no  feature  like  what  is  commonly  known  in  national 
and  state  governments  as  the  "pocket  veto,"- namely 
the  provision  that  a  measure  becomes  ineffective,  owing  to 
kck  of  executive  asser*  -f  the  legishture  closes  its  sessions 
before  the  expiry  of  u     prescribed  period  in  which  this 
assent  may  be  given  or  withheld. 
£:SSfth.      J*  :^  .^ad%  be  seen  that  in  general  lines  the  executive 
«ecutiv,      veto  IS  ahke  m  aU  three  areas  of  American  government,  na- 
tional   state,  and  municipal.    It  is  a  qualified,  as  distin- 
guished from  an  absolute,  veto  power.    As  such  it  is  a 
distmctively  American  contribution  to  the  science  of  gov- 
ernment.   In  no  other  country  does  the  qualified  veto  exist. 
It  IS  mdigenous  here,  and  to  aU  appearances  it  is  likely  to 
remam  an  exclusively  American  poUtical  practice;    for. 
although  durmg  the  last  century  and  a  quarter  many  thingi 
have  been  borrowed  from  America  and  woven  into  the  polit. 
ical  fabrics  of  other  countries,  the  qualified  veto  is  not  one 
of  them     Whatever  may  be  the  American  estimate  as  to 
the  worth  of  this  institution,  the  makers  of  poUtical  systems 
abroad  do  not  seem  to  have  been  impressed  with  its  value. 
Even  in  the  Umted  States  opinions  differ  as  to  the  useful- 
ness of  the  arrangement,  but  not  primarily  as  regards  ''ts 
service  in  the  national  and  state  govermnents.    The  dif- 
ference  of  opinion  rather  takes  the  form  of  a  serious  ques- 

the  domam  of  local  govermnent.  The  institution,  it  is  often 
urged,  found  favor  with  the  framers  of  the  national  and 
state  constitutions  because  they  desired  to  give  the  execu- 
tive a  powerful  weapon  wherewith  to  defend  its  own  field 

i.^t"''^.;  .^'^?^  ^  "^^  '^'  *P^°^^  °'  Alexander 
Hamilton,  that  legudatures  are  wont  to  become  tyrannical, 


Oeneiiiot 
the  veto. 


THK  MATOB 


226 


they  feawd  that,  without  some  such  weapon  as  that  embodied 
m  the  veto  power,  the  appropriate  baUmce  between  the 
executive  and  legudative  arms  of  the  government  might  be 
disturbed ;  and  to  men  who  beUeved  impUcitly  in  the  teach- 
ing of  Monte^uieu,  which  came  by  way  of  Blackstone,  such 

dislocation  speUed  the  subversion  of  popular  liberties.  Now 
m  their  effort  to  bolster  the  natiomd  and  state  executives' 
against  anticipated  onskughts  in  future  years,  the  fathers 
of  American  government  may  have  acted  wisely  and  weU 

At  «iy  rate,  these  executives  have  retained  aU  their  authority 
unshorn,  and  on  the  whole  they  have  not  brandished  their 
weapon  mthmtdue  frequency  or  with  vindictiveness.    But 
m  the  field  of  local  government  no  like  excuse  for  the  execu- 
tive veto  has  ever  existed.    Even  granting  that  the  careful 
apportionment  of  authority  between  executive  and  legisU- 
tive  organs  was  ever  here  a  desideratum,  as  it  probably  was 
not,  there  could  have  been  no  reason  to  fear  that  a  disloca- 
tion of  the  balance  would  be  fraught  with  danger  or  would 
lead  to  permanent  misgovemment.    For  above  the  city  and 
Its  affairs  stood  the  all-powerful  arm  of  the  state,  with  author- 
ity to  mtervene  at  any  moment  in  the  interests  of  readjust- 
ment.   Indeed,  if  any  local  oigan  ever  had  need  of  a  weapon 
hke  the  veto  power  wherewith  to  defend  its  own  sphere  of 
authonty,  it  is  certainly  not  the  mayoralty.    It  is,  in  fact 
this  branch  of  city  administration  which,  through  its  steady 
growth  in  strength,  has  made  sony  work  of  the  origimi 
balance  of  powen.  ^^ 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  mayor's  veto  power  has  not,  on  v^^^ 
the  whole,  contributed  very  greatly  to  the  efficiency  of  the  ±Sl 
American  municipal  system.    It  has,  no  doubt,  served  the  ^Sji 
cause  of  economy  and  sound  administration  in  a  great  many  *""^ 
instances,  but  it  has  quite  as  often  been  an  effective  instru- 
ment of  the  poUtical  buUy.    Mayors  have  used  it  in  cases 
without  number  to  bulldose  and  browbeat  councils  into  sub- 


ri^MilMHl 


228 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


8.  The 
power. 


mission.  By  vetoes  and  threats  of  vetoes  councilmen  have 
time  and  again  been  forced  to  choose  between  the  executive 
assassination  of  their  own  measures  and  a  policy  of  sub- 
serviency to  the  mayor  in  other  matters.  Boards  of  alder- 
men have  been  compelled  to  confirm  appointments  made  by 
the  mayor  under  the  threat  that  measures  in  which  alder- 
men and  their  constituents  were  interested  would  be  decapi- 
tated. The  power  has,  in  a  word,  been  used  as  a  mayoral 
asset  that  might  be  traded  for  legislative  compliance.  It 
has  become  an  instrument  of  political  jue^eiy.  Its  exist- 
ence has  allowed  councils  to  evade  responsibility  for  an  or- 
dinance or  an  appropriation  by  putting  the  burden  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  mayor,  and  has  allowed  the  mayor  to 
reciprocate  by  tossing  it  back  to  the  council  all  this  polit- 
ical play  serving  no  other  end  than  to  befuddle  the  tax- 
payer. Not  least  among  the  merits  of  the  commission  plan 
of  city  government  is  the  fact  that  it  relegates  the  mayoral 
veto  power  to  the  political  scrap-heap. 

A  third  power,  of  the  mayor,  and  in  many  cities  his  most 
important  one,  is  that  of  making  appointments  to  the  hi^er 
places  on  the  city's  pay-roll.    In  most  American  cities,  large 
and  small,  a  few  officers,  notably  those  connected  with  the 
financial  department  of  the  municipality,  are  still  elected 
directly  by  the  people ;  in  some,  a  few  officers  are  still  chosen 
by  the  council.    Here  and  there  a  municipal  officer  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  state,  and  in  a  few  rare  instances  by  the  higher 
state  courts.    Most  appointments  to  higher  municipal  posts 
are,  however,  not  made  in  any  of  these  ways,  but  come  within 
the  appointing  power  of  the  mayor.    Not  that  he  has  an 
entirely  free  hand  in  making  such  appointments ;  ordinarily 
he  nominates,  but  before  becoming  effective  his  nominations 
must  be  confirmed  by  the  board  of  aldermen  or  by  the  coun- 
cil.   The  genesis  of  this  arrangement  is  of  course  dear: 
it  is  but  another  example  of  the  influence  which  the  federal 


THK  MATOR 


227 


analogr  has  racerted  upon  the  structure  and  functions  of 
local  government.  When  it  came  to  be  realized  that  the  tim 
work  of  appointing  men  to  municipal  ofl&ce  was  an  executive  ^S*?"* 
function,  this  prerogative  was,  logically  enough,  intrusted 
to  the  mayor  as  chief  executive  officer  of  the  city ;  but,  in- 
asmuch as  the  confirmation  of  executive  appointments 
in  the  national  administration  was  given  to  the  upper 
house  of  the  national  legislature,  it  seemed  fitting  that  in 
those  cities  which  had  a  bicameral  ^stem  the  confirming 
power  should  be  allotted  to  the  smaller  of  the  two  council 
bodies,  commonly  called  the  board  of  aldermoi.  Twenty- 
five  or  thirty  years  ago  this  was  the  almost  invariable  prac- 
tice in  American  cities,  large  and  small;  and  it  is  still  in 
vogue  in  most  of  the  medium-sized  and  snudler  cities. 
Within  the  last  decade,  however,  the  practice  of  requiring 
conciliar  confirmation  of  mayor's  appointmenio  has  heaa. 
losing  ground  very  rapidly. 

It  \ised  to  be  thought  that  the  system  of  having  the  mayor's 
appointments  confirmed  by  the  board  of  aldermen  (or,  in 
those  cities  which  have  a  single  chamber,  by  the  council) 
had  much  in  its  favor.  The  poUcy  seemed  to  be  in  keeping  tiuT 
with  the  scheme  of  American  government  in  state  and  na- 
tion ;  it  was  thou^t  to  afford  a  salutary  check  upon  pos- 
sible abuses  of  the  mayor's  descretionary  powers;  and  it 
was  commonly  justified  on  the  ground  that  "it  placed  no 

ndicap  upon  a  good  mayor  and  set  obstacles  in  the  way 
.  bad  one."    People  nowadays,  however,  have  come  to  be 

•ich  more  sceptical  concerning  these  alleged  merits.  It  has 
«.oen  found  that,  more  often  than  not,  the  system  of  alder- 
manic  confirmation  has  afforded  a  most  convenimt  ar- 
rangement for  evading  responsibility.  Mayors  have  not  iti 
hesitated  to  wash  their  hands  of  all  accountability  for  ap-  ^^ 
pointing  professional  politicians  to  i  municipal  office,  by  the 
plausible  and  frequently  accurate  assertion  that  the  aldermen 


Bavotod 

maritiafth* 
■yatamof 
iidannaaie 
eonflna*. 


by  the 
nuyor. 


228  GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 

would  not  confirm  any  othe«  than  party  spoilsmen.    More 
than  once  the  system  has  enabled  the  aldermen  to  give  the 
mayor  the  unpalatable  alternative  either  of  rewarding  hench- 
men by  places  on  the  city's  pay-roll,  or  of  having  posts  left 
vacimt  over  periods  so  long  as  to  impede  the  administration 
of  the  city  s  affairs.    In  those  cities  where  aldermen  are 
elected  by  wards  and  where,  in  consequence,  petty  prejudices 
come  mto  full  play,  the  system  has  achieved  its  worst.    It 
has  frequently  become  an  effective  instrument  of  poUtical 
bkckmail,  foreing  the  mayor  to  countenance  extravagant 
appropriations,  pilfering  contracts,   or  high-handed  ordi- 
nances on  pain  of  having  his  appointments  rejected.    As 
toe  experience  of  the  past  quartei-centuiy  abundantly  shows, 
the  practice  of  aldermanic  confirmation  has  proved  to  be  no 
effective  barrier  against  the  appointment  of  incompetents  to 
mumcipal  office;  its  chief  service  has  been  in  providing  a 
means  of  bewUdering  voters  when  they  try  to  hold  any  one 
accountable  for  official  incompetency  or  misdemeanor 

It  woiJd  be  unfair,  however,  to  convey  the  idea  that  only 
the   confirming   authorities   have   been   remiss.    Mayrrt 
under  the  system  of  aldermanic  confirmation,  have  too  fre^ 
quently  been  ready  to  play  politics.    They  have  been 
known  to  send  forward  names  of  weU-qualified  men  who,  as 
they  had  ah«ady  ascertained,  were  sure  to  faU  of  confirma- 
tion,-a  ruse  intended  to  mislead  the  more  exacting  ele- 
ment  m  the  community,  and  thereby  to  afford  a  pUusible 
excuse  for  the  nomination  of  some  political  or  pereomil 
favorite  a  few  days  later.    If  aldermen  have  used  their  pre- 
rogative  of  confirmation  to  foroe  the  mayors'  hands,  the 
mayors  have  been  just  about  as  ready  to  trundle  their  own 
pohtical  mterests  by  foisting  upon  the  aldermen  respon- 
sibihty  for  anything  that  is  likely  to  evoke  antagonism  from 
some  faction  of  the  voters.    In  fact,  this  provision  of  the 
old  mumcipal  system  has  probably  been  responsible  for  more 


TBI  MAYOR 


229 


eurrMMefai 
nmorali. 


scurvy  deals  between  the  executive  and  legislative  branches 
of  American  dty  governments  than  any  other  feature. 

And  what  has  been  said  of  aldermanic  confirmation  in  The 
appointments  applies  equally  to  the  practice  of  requiring  ^^"J^ 
aldermanic  concurrence  in  removals  from  ofiSce.  Mayors 
are  commonly  charged  with  the  duty  of  supervising  the 
work  of  the  various  city  departments,  liie  efficiency 
of  these  departments  of  course  depends  largely  upon  the 
capacity  of  the  officer  immediately  in  charge;  but  if  the 
mayor  is  not  allowed  to  exercise  a  free  hand  in  removing 
the  head  of  a  mimicipal  department  in  whose  capacity  he 
has  no  confidence,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  he  can  be  held 
accountable  for  departmental  shortcomings.  In  those 
cities  where  the  mayor  cannot  without  concurrence  remove 
a  single  patrolman,  even  for  gross  misconduct  or  misde- 
meanor, it  requires  no  intuitive  political  sagacity  to  under* 
stand  how  police  discipline  becomes  demoralised,  or  why 
patrolmen  often  put  more  faith  in  the  influence  of  an  alder- 
man  than  in  their  own  records  for  good  conduct  and  effi- 
ciency. In  all  recent  charters  the  confirmation  and  con- 
currence clauses  have  disappeared.  They  may  well  be 
relegated  to  a  place  among  the  discards  of  political  science; 
for  not  only  have  they  roidered  the  cause  of  efficient  mum'ci- 
pal  administration  no  permanent  service  of  any  importance, 
but  they  have  often  been  actually  pernicious  in  operation. 

Cities  that  have  adopted  the  commission  type  of  govern- 
ment vest  the  power  of  appointment  in  the  comnussion  as  ^J^Jtb. 
a  whole,  not  in  the  mayor ;  but  those  which  have  revised  «"*  «»^ 
their  charters  without  adopting  the  commission  plan  leave 
it  still  with  the  chief  executive.  In  some  of  these  places 
he  exercises  the  rig^t  to  appoint  all  heads  of  municipal 
departments  and  all  members  of  city  boards  or  com- 
missions without  the  sanction  of  the  municipal  council  or 
of  any  other  body.    New  York  afifords  lue  best  example 


MayonI 


230  OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIB8 

of  this  system.     By  her  charter  of  1898,  as  amend' d  in 
1901,  the  power  and  responsibiUty  were  conccotmted  in  the 
mayor,  who  was  thereby  invested  with  a  discretionary  au- 
thority more  extensive  than  that  possessed  by  the  chief 
Tb^Bo.to.  executive  officer  of  any  other  city  whether  in  America  or 
elsewhere.    In  Boston,  by  the  charter  changes  of  1909,  the 
duty  of  passing  upon  the  mayor's  appointments  was  taken 
from  the  board  of  aldermen  and  given  to  the  state  civil- 
service  commission.    In  general  the  new  charter  provisions 
commit  to  the  mayor  the  right  to  nominate  aU  heads  of  de- 
partments and  aU  members  of  city  commissions,  whether 
paid  or  unpaid,  the  only  important  exceptions  being  a  few 
officials  and  commissioners  who  are  either  chosen  by  the 
council  or  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state,  and  the 
school  committee,  which  is  directly  elected  by  the  voters 
of  the  city.    It  is  provided  that,  when  the  mayor  makes 
any  such  nomination  to  office,  he  shaU  file  a  certificate  with 
the  city  clerk,  who  shaU  transmit  a  copy  to  the  civil-ser- 
vice commission,  which  is  a  state  board  made  up  of  three 
members,  each  appointed  by  the  governor  for  a  three-year 
term     In  making  the  nomination  the  mayor  is  required  to 
certify  that  the  person  nominated  is  "a  recognized  expert 
in  the  work  which  wiU  devolve  upon  him,"  or  "a  person 
apeciaUy  fitted  by  education,  training,  or  experience  to  per- 
form the  duties"  of  the  office.    Upon  receipt  of  the  nomina- 
tion the  civil-service  commission  proceeds  to  make  a  careful 
inquuy  mto  the  qualifications  of  the  nominee.    If  a  majority 
of  the  members  of  1  >e  commission  decide  that  the  person 
named  by  the  mayor  is  possessed  of  the  desigmited  quaU- 
hcations,  this  decision  is  communicated  to  the  city  clerk 
and  the  appointment  goes  into  eflfect.*    If  the  commission 
IS  not  satisfied,  it  merely  remains  silent;   and,  by  the 
provisions  of  the  charter,  on  the  expiry  of  thirty  days  the 
» AeU  and  SmoUm  iff  M<u$aekutetU,  1900.  eh.  486. 


THE  MATOR 


281 


mayor's  designation  Upses.    He  may  then  submit  another 
name. 

The  Boston  phm  rests  upon  the  conviction  that  alder-  Btk».i 
manic  confirmation  as  a  check  upon  the  mayor  is  an  open  HS^*^ 
farce,  if  nothing  worse;  that  the  average  mayor  cannot  be  ■'■»«• 
safely  trusted  to  appoint  competent  heads  of  departments 
if  he  has  sole  responsibility  in  the  matter;    and  that  the 
system  of  competitive  civil-service  examinations  does  not 
procure,  for  department  headships,  men  of  adequate  ad- 
mimstrative  capacity  or  poUtical  vision.    It  gives  the  mayor 
entire  freedom  of  appointment  so  long  as  he  keeps  within 
the  ranks  of  those  who  have  some  qualification  for  the  work 
which  they  are  expected  to  perform ;  but  it  provides  a  means 
whereby  his  freedom  of  action  may  be  promptly  curtailed 
whenever  he  steps  outside  these  bounds  and  attempts  to  pay 
poUtical  debts  from  the  city's  salary  account.    During  the 
first  twelve  months  after  the  new  Boston  charter  went  into 
operation  the  mayor  sent  to  the  civil-service  commission 
the  names  of  seventy-one  persons,  aU  of  whom  were  certified 
as  recogmzedexperts,"oraspersonsqualified"byeducation,  itiMta.1 
trammg,  or  experience"  for  the  work  which  they  were  dedg-  '"^^ 
nated  to  do.    The  commission  found  that  even  under  the 
broadest  interpretation  of  the  terms  only  fifty  could  be 
confinned  as  meeting  the  charter  requirements.*    Of  the 
others  many  were  recognized  experts  in  nothing  but  poU- 
tus     In  one  case  the  mayor  sent  forward,  for  appointment 
to  the  office  of  fire  commissioner,  the  name  of  a  man  whose     ' 
quahfccations    by  education,  training,  or  experience"  rested 
mainly  on  thefact  that  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  he  had  served 
as  a  member  of  a  volunteer  bucket  brigade.    In  other  cases 

^J^ion  declined  to  .pprove,  fifteen  were  to  pud  and  alx  to  unpaid 


232 


GOVEBNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITin 


ItoMtirfae. 


he  relspsed  to  the  evils  of  the  old  system  uj  aldennanie 
confirmation  by  presenting,  in  an  apparent  endeavor  to 
make  political  capital,  the  names  of  men  who,  as  he  must 
have  known,  could  not  under  any  circumstances  be  certified 
as  competent. 

In  Massachusetts,  where  officers  appointed  by  the  state 
authorities  can  usually  be  reli'  '  upon  to  display  the  neces- 
sary integrity  and  independence,  the  Boston  plan  has  its 
advantages.  That  it  has  secured  for  the  city  a  better  set 
of  department  heads  than  could  be  hoped  for  under  the  old 
regime  is  beyond  serious  question.^  That  it  is  thoroughly 
unpopular  with  machine  politicians  is  equally  certain  and 
by  no  means  surprising.  But  it  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  the  system  would  insure  any  marked  improvement 
in  the  cities  of  those  states  which  cannot  be  relied  upon  to 
provide  civil-service  commissions  with  the  necessary  aloof- 
ness from  political  chicanery.  A  plan  that  serves  Boston 
well  might  very  conceivably  prove  a  failure  in  Chicago  or 
Philadelphia. 

A  fourth  administrative  function  which  is  frequently, 
though  not  in  the  majority  of  American  cities,  intrusted 
to  the  mayor  is  that  of  supervising  the  preparation  of  the 
municipal  budget.  There  was  a  time  when  this  task  was 
performed  by  the  city  council  through  one  of  its  committees 
commonly  called  the  finance  committee.  That  is  the  plan  still 
followed  in  English  cities,  but  it  has  never  worked  very  well 
in  America.  Here  members  of  the  council  manoeuvred  for 
positions  on  the  finance  committee  in  order  to  wedge  into 
the  budget  the  appropriations  in  which  they  were  person- 

*  "Attompto  on  the  pwt  of  the  mayar  to  ciroamvent  or  override  these 
(eivil4ervioe]  amendments  have  been  repeated  and  persistent,  but  they 
have  been  generally  muueoessful,  and  this  feature  of  the  charter  has  not 
merely  been  justified  but  has  shown  itself  an  indispensable  bulwark  against 
unfit  appointments.';  —  BosroR  Financk  Coiuiusiok,  BeporU,  VL  16 


4.  The 
power  to 
initUte 
appK>|»ia- 
tSi»s. 


THB  MATOB 


283 


^.  n^T  !  ^:f*^^°"  °^  comparative  efficiency  in  lo^ 
rolling  on  the  part  of  councillor.,  and  the  city  trea^nr  b^^ 
thebruntofitaU  Thu.  it  came  about  that  theSve^ 
regaiti  to  the  budget  was  often  taken  away  from  the  co^H 

and  thereby  determining  the  annual  tL-^^  now  v^'  ^^ 
m  a  body  known  as  the  Boani  of  Ertimate  Ld  A^,^^  *^ 
ment,  composed  of  the  mayor,  the  comptroller,  thfpSent 

tf  \^":^f  ''''™^'  '"'*  «^«  five  borough  pSr 
After  the  budget  has  been  finaUy  adopted  by  thS^aS  k 

m  It  except  by  way  of  reduction,  and  even  in  this  r^ 
theu.  action  is  subject  to  veto  by  the  mayor,  whoTdS^ 
can  m  such  cases  b.  overridden  only  by  a  wt^L""^" 
In  Boston  the  budget  is  drafted  by  the  mayor  dZ    No  ■n.j^ 

proposal  to  spend  the  dty'smoney  can  be  coLd^bytt  ^ 
council  unless  It  emanate,  from  the  mayor.    ^coLcU 
may  reduce  or  omit  any  item,  but  it  may  not  make  ^^i^. 
sertions  or  increases.    Under  this  system  the  ubhTL^ 
i^ponsibility  for  aU  municipal  expcnTtu^  fl^^Ve 
mayor.     Unfortunately,    however,    this    does    nrLke 
^  diroctly  accountable  to  the  electorate  for  incro^ 
ly  u2"th*"""*^°'*'^^^^  for  this  rate  dep^ndT^ 
ayors  control,  but  also  upon  the  amounts  levied  by  vari- 
ous commissions  which  aro  appointed  by  the  state  to  ^ 

or  a  W  l;""!?.  *°  T^  °^  ^^^  «*^^  *»»«  ''^ole  c  J 
the  d '?  ^T''^^"  °^  '^-  ^*  "  '^  ^"o^gh  to  propound 
the  ^     :  ^u  '""''^**^  "^^  '^^^<l«i  r^nsZtyfor 

aUv^idl!^  ?u  ~.""P«rtant  obligations  aro  continu- 

ally saddled  upon  the  city  by  some  outside  superior  author 


a.  Mbed. 
ivMous  and 


284  OOVERNBONT  OF  AMIRICAN  CITII8 

ity  thi.  centraliiation  of  retpoMibmty  it  not  to  ewy  to 
secure.  ' 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  powew,  -  those  relating  to 
eguilation,  to  the  veto,  to  appointments,  and  to  finan^  - 
the  Amencan  mayor  has  power,  and  duties  of  a  rather  4h 

b^  tZirJT,  '''''  l^'  ^*"°"''  "^"^"P^  departmefts; 
but  this  m  Itself  gives  him  no  authority  of  consequ«,ce.    ji 

lnr,T.     ,^''''  *°  'PP**^'  *"d  ""^ov*  t»»e  depart- 

^^c  grant  o   superviaoiy  authority  over  what  they  d^^ 
and  If  he  has  not  the  power  to  appoint  and  remove,  a  formL 
supervisory  jurisdiction  is  of  Uttle  use  to  him.    By  ^ 
^on  of  the  city  charter,  the  mayor  is  often  authorised  to 
re^enre  report  from  the  administrative  department,  ^t 
stated  intervd.  or  when  he  calls  for  them.    L  some  citiL 
he  has  the  nght  to  inspect  the  accounts  of  city  officer,  o^ 
to  conduct  nv^tigations  into  the  working  of  any rTll  o 
the  administration.    In  a  few  cities  he  may,  when  neceslai^ 
caU  out  the  militia  to  aid  the  local  poUce;  and  in  a^^ 

S^^es  aU  tr'th"^'  ^"^-'^--t  fi--  i-Posed  there, 
ttwides  aU  tlus,  the  mayor  is  the  official  representative  of 

1  T.  "  t""  '''""'^  "'^'^  ''''''  municipaUties  or  4th 
^e  ^ate.  In  person  or  through  some  one  delegated  by 
h^  he  represents  the  city  at  legisbtive  hearings  L  other 

Con?H  '°^'T"  '*  ""'''^  *^^  city's  attitude^prese^^ 
Considerable  demands  are  also  made  upon  both  his  pu«e 

expected  of  him  as  the  representative  of  the  municipality 
a^numberless  semiofficial  and  private  gatherings  or  W 

^Zi  ^  """^^f  °'  "''  ^"^""«*^  "*y'  whether  hu«e  or 
small,  need  never  be  idle. 

That  the  power,  and  duties  which  ordinarily  attach  to  the 


na  UAYOM 


386 


office  of  myor  l»v«  gw.tly  Uicnu^  during  th.  l^t  forty 

ll^IJT^  ^'  "^  mentioned^  n«ti«ul^! 
enunent  the  •djurtment  of  executive  and  leiidative  n«««I 
«  origmaUy  «tabliri.ed,  h-  aever  beTJ^yl^' 
The  national  executive  may  have  incwa^d  it.  powwaZ^ 
what  during  the  laat  one  hund«d  Su^w^^^T. 
to  any  notable  deg«e.  So,  ^.  ^^^TZ^'^tZ 
in  state  government :  governor.  to^.v  tMk^^^  *u  '^^ 

power  h«  be«,  very  a^k,,,  j^^  j^^  ™«« 
place  •>  a  dependent  ud  miboniiiute  «*«,.  „^^ 
..gUU.u«,  ehe  n..yo,  h«  H«nZr.,'^,ter"S 
he  B  .t  lew  «,6«lm«to  with  th.  eounca,  Mdt^*ZZ 
~p.no,  to  ft,  to  «,p.„  p„^  ^  toilulrm  «^ 
of  course,  th.t  the  pow«,  „,  the  muniei^-j^;^ 
been  corrapondingly  impaind.  «IP««ni»  bm 

to^' tte'^'l"^'*"'"?'  ■«  "™^  •»  «1"  whole  to 
whether,  u  wme  cUim,  it  «p™,ent,  .  hiUfZW T™^ 
;»«  "'°-«  "■»  '™-'<5  path,  i.  .  quertio.  to.  i^^  ^JZ 
hap.  too  controvereial  to  have  mnch  di«nwionTa^«^ 
".rvey  ^  »  «fe  to  «y,  how«-er,  thuZ^^  J,^ 
power  fron,  the  ^  „,gan.  of  city  gove^n^L,  ^ 
It  upon  the  mayor  has  not  aaw^oA  ♦«  .         ^w^aing 

*•  "^  "'  wrvea  to  wcure  a  deirreA  of  «flR_ 

Yo/.rBo^oiftiavr^.rrui^'zrt.f -jf^ '"' 

master  of  Berlin  or  ♦»,«  p  «^''U«>iy  power  than  the  buigo- 
on  the  part  of  the  city  executive.  ^  " 


RMtfeb 


oovMNiaNT  or  AiiiRiciN  omui 


•«•  «<»  (N«w  York,  1004)  oh  ,  nnml:  I '  P' ''  '"'««^"  ^"-^ 
F-«»to.  (N^r  York.  iJS?  .t'tiv '  L  i^Sfi  ^^nwmwu  ^  Jf«^ 
Jork.  1000).  74^.  X^  t^;,V  "** '^,.*-':^^ 

MiVorOowrBia«;,"faif-i^^'^  •     ^wiBml  OovnuMat  yw^ 


CHAPTER  X 
TOE  Asatm.  miATtvm  nzfAnumm 
Tm  .dinmirtrative  department  a.  .  e^.^f^itandiiur  War 

other  K^tur..  in  the  Ara«i.«      ,«^  ,    uri>M  J^^ITT 
It  ..  a  by-pn  duct  of  that       d  ^fS,       T^* 

of  powe,.  in  .ocal,^  ia  ^.     "  T^       'l  ^^^?» 

has  bee     .how     ii  ,  ^       :  r'      ^^^"^    ^* 

^neteenth  -tu^th.  variouatarfcaof  ij^'^^^^^"^ 
a^-  they    onfroated       -  cities  wet*  airr^      -u^mwiratJor 

Inland, when  a, .ec.ti«      iheul^^^^ 

their  frame  of     mernml     ^°^^"^**^  S***«  «"*  derived 

^M  ^uni.pa...er;:Thep:i;:,'^  ^^  ^ 
\  system  of  adn  inistering  the  various  branchea  of  a  «{*^- 

^mittee.  work,  io  tlie  aUmot  toJTSS-T^^i*" ^^^ ~»»»fl 


TW 


Ummat 

ofadniiiifo. 

tntfeabr 
oottndi 


238 


OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMEBICAN  CITIK8 


M^ 


1.  MitkM 

■ervioein 
tileoottiioil 
more 
•ttnetiva. 


2.  Pre- 
■ervM  har- 
mony of 
legidation 
•nd  Mjmis. 
ktimtion. 


ity  of  the  state  legisUtures  is  so  great  and  constant  that 
very  Uttle  in  the  way  of  law-making,  or  anything  closely 
akin  to  it,  is  left  for  subordinate  authorities.  For  the  larger 
American  cities,  at  any  rate,  the  real  law-making  authority 
is  the  state  legislature.  The  few  ordinances  left  for  the 
city  to  pass  engage  the  attention  of  the  average  municipal 
council  hardly  a  tithe  of  its  time.  Hence  it  is  that,  when 
councils  are  by  the  terms  of  the  city  charter  reduced  to  the 
plane  of  ordinance-making  bodies,  they  sink  to  positions  of 
little  importance  in  the  general  scheme  of  municipal  govern- 
ment and  fail  to  attract  to  their  membership  men  of  any 
ambition  or  capacity. 

A  city  councU,  moreover,  does  not  usuaUy  accept  this 
ouster  from  administrative  influence  with  good  grace.    Its 
members  are  commonly  elected  from  the  various  wards  of  the 
city ;  indeed,  the  only  representative  which  a  certain  ward 
or  district  may  have  in  the  whole  city  government  is  not  in- 
frequently a  member  of  the  city  councU.     When  the  ward 
wants  something  from  an  administrative  department,  it  looks 
to  its  own  representative  to  secure  it.    Through  sheer  pres- 
sure brought  upon  them  by  the  neighborhoods  from  which 
they  come,  therefore,  and  despite  charter  provisions  to  the 
contrary,  the  counciUors  are  forced  into  attempts  to  exert 
an  influence  and   control  over  matters  of  administration. 
Diversities  of  local  interests  are  reUtive  to  administration 
rather  than  to  legishition.    It  is  not  that  any  part  of  the  city 
fears  that  it  wiU  fail  to  receive  its  due  share  of  attention  in 
the  ordinances;   it  is  rather  that  each  ward  or  district 
jealously  desires  its  full  portion  of  what  is  to  be  spent  for  pub- 
He  works,  or  poUce,  or  fire  protection,  or  parks,  pUygrounds, 
and  so  on.    If  the  various  parts  of  the  city  are  represented 
m  only  one  branch  of  the  city  government,  this  body  is  ex- 
pected to  transmit  local  demands  to  those  branches  in  which 
locaUties  as  such  are  not  represented.    Hence  it  has  almost 


THK  ADM1NI8TRATIVB  DiPARTlflNTS  239 

always  happened  that  a  city  councfl  which  has  been  de- 
prived by  law  of  aU  direct  share  in  administrative  work  wiU 
nevertheless  strive  to  exert  a  control  in  roundabout  ways 
some  of  which  have  already  been  described.*    In  any  case' 
fnction  between  legislative  and  administrative  organs  is  at 
most  certain  to  be  the  outcome ;  and  when  there  is  a  cUsh  be- 
tween  an  elective  body,  such  as  the  council,  and  an  appointive 
authority,  such  as  tue  headship  of  an  administrative  depart- 
ment must  be  if  it  is  to  be  efficient,  popular  sympathy  is 
altogether  hkely  to  be  with  the  former,  despite  any  charter 
provision  which  relegates  the  elective  body  to  a  place  outside  «.  ^^ 
the  realm  of  admmistration.    The  principle  was  weU  stated  SSiSfi 
by  Lord  Durham  in  his  famous  report  upon  the  govermnent  SS*  "* 
of  colomes,  but  it  holds  with  equal  soundness  in  aU  rpheres  "^ 
of  representative  government.    It  is  idle  to  expect,  he  de- 
clared, that  a  body  of  elected  representatives  will  suffer  it- 
self to  be  relegatd  by  any  theory  of  government  to  a  position 
of  admmistrative  impotence,  whfle  men  who  do  not  owe  their 
places  to  popuhir  election  control  all  the  direct  avenues 
through  which  the  people's  money  is  spent.* 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  the  logical  carrying  out  of  n-mtoi.. 
the  pohcy  which  some  reformers  would  have  all  American  JSSL 
cities  pur8ue,-that  is  to  say,  the  complete  elimination  of  the  *2?r* 
council  from  aU  part  in  administrative  affairs  (this  includes  S?2L 
the  appomtment  of  officials  and  the  actual  spending  of  all  SS^ 
moneys),  and  the  intrusting  of  these  affairs  to  heads  of  SET 
departments  not  elected  by  the  people  but  chosen  by  some 
sort  of  competitive  civil^rvice  test, -the  logical  outcome 
of  this  pohcy  would  be  the  establishment  of  a  natural  an- 
tagonism between  the  elective  and  non-elective  branches  of 
government,  an  arrangement  which,  as  Lord  Durham  pointed 
out,  camiot  permanently  endure  in  any  representative  i^stem. 
» Above,  pp.  304-205. 
*  Report  on  tht  Ago^^BritUk  North  AmoHm  (London.  1830). 


240 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMEBICAN  CITIB8 


Step*  by 

wUchtlM 

iadepeiid- 

•ntad- 

nUiiiatn- 

thredeput- 

nwnt  luM 

optd> 


The  idea  that  one  organ  of  city  government,  popularly  elected 
and  intended  to  be  a  mirror  of  pubUc  opinion,  wiU  content 
itself  with  a  mere  share  in  the  making  of  local  ordinances 
while  the  real  business  of  the  city  is  carried  on  by  heads  of 
departments  who  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  owe  their 
appointment  to  popular  choice,  — such  an  idea  is  a  delu- 
sion that  experience  ought  long  since  to  have  shattered. 

But  when  administrative  duties  were  first  taken  away  from 
the  council  they  were  not  given  to  boards  or  officials  selected 
m  this  way.    The  change  was  not  dictated  by  a  conviction 
that  administration  should  be  put  in  charge  of  experts  chosen 
by  open  competition.    It  was  due  rather  to  the  feeling  that 
the  various  branches  of  the  ijity's  business  could  be  managed 
better  by  boards  or  officials  directly  elected  than  by  commit- 
tees of  the  councU  which  were  liable  to  be  chosen  by  log- 
rolling methods.    Accordingly,  independent  administrative 
officials  and  boards  were  for  a  time  elected  by  popular  vote. 
It  was  soon  found,  however,  that  the  system  of  popular 
election  did  not  ser  o  the  cause  of  efficiency.    The  next  step, 
therefore,  was  to  transfer  the  responsibiUty  of  selection  from 
the  voters  to  the  mayor,  a  change,  it  was  argued,  that  did 
not  remove  administration  from  popular  control,  inasmuch  as 
the  mayor  who  appointed  and  might  at  any  time  dismiss  these 
boards  and  officiate  was  himself  an  elected  officer,  responsible 
to  the  voters.    But  even  this  transfer  did  not  secure  the 
efficient  direction  of  city  departments;  for  in  most  cases 
the  mayor,  using  his  appointive  power  as  an  agency  of  po- 
litical patronage,  put  them  in  charge  of  men  whose  only 
qualification  was  consistent  party  service.    By  these  steps 
the  quest  for  some  arrangement  that  wiU  insure  a  certain 
degree  of  administrative  competence  in  the  heads  of  dty  de- 
partments has  proceeded  to  the  scheme  of  selecting  them 
under  civil-service  supervision. 
The  most  promising  plan  of  this  sort  yet  put  into  opera^oB 


THE  ADMINISTRATIVB  DBPARTMBNT8  241 

18  that  adopted  in  Boston  by  the  charter  amendments  of  1909.  Th. .  -^ 
By  the  terms  of  this  legislation  heads  of  departments  and  JJL,^ 
members  o*  boards  in  charge  of  departments  ate  appointed  ^"^ 
by  the  mayor ;  but  these  appointments  do  not  go  into  effect 
until  approved  by  the  civU-service  commission,  which  is,  as 

has  already  been  stated,  a  board  of  three  membew  appointed 
by  the  governor  of  Massachusetts.    The  initiative  in  appoint- 
ments rests  wholly  with  the  mayor.    He  may  select  whom  he  Tii.B-10. 
will,  provided  the  civil-service  commission  assents ;  and  it  is  >*^ 

required  by  Uw  to  do  so  if  it  finds  that  the  mayor's  nominee 
is  qualified  for  the  post  by  training  or  by  experience.  There 
18  no  competitive  test  of  any  sort ;  it  is  not  necessary  that 
the  mayor's  nominee  be  the  best  man  avaiUble,  but  only  that 
he  offer  reasonable  promise  of  competency.  During  the 
last  few  years  this  system  has  worked  well,  though  it  has 

proved  more  successful  in  protecting  the  city  against  political 
appomtments  than  in  securing  experts  as  heads  of  depart- 
ments.   It  seems  to  guarantee  that  the  men  put  in  charge 
of  departments  shaU  be  at  least  tolerably  competent,  but 
m  the  hands  of  a  mayor  who  is  not  in  sympathy  with  the 
V«rtem  It  does  not  assure  the  city  much  more  than  that.    On 
the  other  hand,  it  preserves  the  forms  of  responsible  appoint- 
ment;  for  the  actual  selection  of  administrative  heads  is  i«.dM 
made  by  the  mayor,  who  is,  in  turn,  elected  by  the  people. 
1^  IS  a  matter  of  more  than  formal  importance  in  deter- 
mmmg  the  reUtions  of  these  men,  when  instaUed  in  office, 
both  with  the  mayor  and  with  the  dty  council    Themayor 
camiot  discUim  reeponsibiUty  for  their  success  or  failure, 
«nce  by  sending  their  names  to  the  civil-service  commis- 
sion for  confirmation  he  must  expremly  vouch  for  their 
competence. 

M.^    .f!^»  cities  of  the  United  States  have  put  mort  of  «„ 
ineir  t        ...  mto  some  sort  of  contact  with  oivil-awviee 
»»«"*mer>,  but  as  yet  Boston  is  the  only  one  to  do  this  in 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 

case  of  the  actual  heads  of  city  departments.*    And  it 
cannot  be  made  too  clear  that  the  Boston  system  is  not 
competitive.     Those  who  devised  the  plan  were  thoroughly 
in  sympathy  with  the  poUcy  of  filling  aU  subordinate  posts  in 
the  municipal  service  by  competitive  merit  tests,  but  they 
were  not  ready  to  adopt  this  method  of  selecting  depart- 
ment heads,  who  have  the  power  to  determine  policies.    This 
distinction  between  offi  -ials  whose  tasks  involve  discretion 
in  the  determination  of  departmental  poUcy  and  those  whose 
duties  are  of  a  non-discretionary  character  seems  to  be  sound 
STm^  ^  P™*'*?^®-    Experts  are  needed,  and  very  sorely  needed, 
dgr^min.  ^  the  administrative  services  of  American  cities,  and  the 
*••'■*»•      best  practicable  means  of  securing  them  is  by  open  competi- 
tion ;  but  it  does  not  foUow  that  the  place  for  the  expert  is  at 
the  head  of  the  department.    The  city's  expert  in  the  matter 
of  fire  protection  ought  to  be  the  fire  chief  and  not  the  fire 
commissioner.    Professional    expertness    is    imperative   in 
the  medical  health  officer,  but  not  in  members  of  the  health 
board.    It  is  essential  to  the  efficiency  of  the  city's  educa- 
tional system  that  the  superintendent  of  schools  shall  be 
skilled  in  school  management;   but  no  such  qualification 

flJ.S^.^.^I^i*'  ''*^«»M«!''  «*«*«  of  1909.  providw  for  the  olMri- 
flMtion  of  »U  podtioiia  now  taoBliag  or  hflraftw  oraated  of  wli»t«y«r 
fuMtion,  de««i»tioii  or  eompemtion  in  eMh  ud  ev«ry  branch  of  the 
olvO  wmoe  of  the  oity,  exoept  raeh  podtiou  m  are  in  the  eiempt  Mrvioe 
^^^li"^."^"  P«^^  »  »«»•  that  aa  ««A  olJ^ad^ 
!SS2!J?^v  ^^  ««»P««*»^  ">«rit  *«t^  deviMd  and  adn>ini.ter«l  ta^  a 
^a^^ndoe  board  nude  up  of  three  member,  appointed  by  the  mayor. 

-IS.!r!St!T  ."*""•  ^  **■  '•**•  *°  "^^^y  •  «~*  "tendon  ofdvO. 
•enioB  method,  m  monieipal  admini.tration ;   but,  on  turning  to  the 

«!^^!If!2°*'    '"•*°'*»«»"™«»ted  within  thiaoategoiy  not  only  the 

flreohief,  the  dty  auditor,  the  city  clerk,  the  city  aneiMr.  the  dty  eoun- 
•eHor,  and  in  wme  eaMa  their  deputies  a.  weU.  The  Kanmw  City  plan. 
iZ  «l2!Ll[!2!f°^  with  which  it  i.  cit«i  a.  an  «»mple  of  tho«SS 
foujoivU-Mrvioe  reform,  doe.  not  co  w  far  in  that  direction  a.  the  aiw 

SZXriSi.'L!';..^*^  "^  "'~^"*^    See  Charter  of 


THE  ADMINISTRATiyi  DEPABTMENT8 


343 


ought  to  be  exacted  from  memb^s  of  the  school  boaid, 
even  in  cities  where  these  members  are  appointed  by  the 
mayor. 

To  the  policy  of  selecting  the  heads  of  d^artments  by  should 
competitive  tests  several  weighty  objections  have  been  raised.  Jj^i^  **^ 
In  the  first  place,  as  President  Lowell  has  pointed  out,  "the  •*  •*«« 
broad  inteUigence  and  sound  judgment  required  "  from  those  £•  uSr*" 


who  manage  administrative  departments  "can  hardly  be 
measured  by  any  examination  paper  designed  to  test  imme- 
diate fitness  for  special  duties."*    The  competitive  test, 
however  comprehoisive  and  concrete  it  may  be,  must  in- 
evitably relate  itself  to  the  work  which  a  candidate  will  be 
called  upon  to  perform  and  the  responsibilities  which  he 
will  be  expected  to  bear.    Since  the  work  of  a  department 
head  is  specialised,  the  test  must  be  somewhat  special  in 
its  nature.    But  special  tests  cannct  determine  general 
capacity,  and  the  theory  that  the  most  satisfactory  head  for 
a  department  is  one  who  displays  the  most  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  its  routine  functions  will  not  square  with  everyday 
facts.    There  are  so  many  points  at  which  a  department 
head  must  come  into  touch  with  the  voters,  with  the  city 
council,  and  with  other  administrative  officials  that  such 
qualities  as  tact,  prudence,  firmness,  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  ability  to  work  with  colleagues,  a  personality  that 
wiU  inspire  loyalty  on  the  part  of  subordinates  and  con- 
fidence on  the  part  of  superiors,  these  and  many  other  per- 
sonal traits  are  quite  as  essential  to  success  as  is  expertness 
m  the  technical  work  which  the  head  of  a  city  department 
has  to  do. 

The  quaUties  of  mind  and  character  needed  in  the  executive  TiMqadi. 
head  of  a  city  department  have  been  weU  outlined  by  one  S'J^ 

oiHitd*. 
rJ.A^^'^  ""  "P*nn»n«it  OOoiala  in  MnnidiMl  OovwimuBt."  C^S*** 
pmtjd  m  Prcceedint,  of  th»  N.tionia  Muaidpia  Lmg^  1908.  MpMiiUly  '^^ 


The  need 

ofnund 

teaditioiia. 


244  OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMBBICAN  CITIM 

Who,  in  a  professional  capadty,  has  h-en  in  olow  contact  with 
city  affairs  in  a  large  way.  The  department  head  should 
hav^  fi„t  of  aU,  "integrity  and  executive  capacity.  He 
should  be  a  man  capable  of  managing  business  enterprises 
upon  business  principles  and  by  business  methods.    He  must. 

i^ntr'  ^  ^T  °'  ^^^'^  ^'"^«°^""^  ""^  »*"»«  character 
equable  and  diplomatic  in  temperament,  and  a  good  judw 

of  men  and  of  human  nature.    He  must  have  the  ability  to 

decide  rightly  and  the  firmness  to  stand  by  his  decisions  when 

made.    He  should  have  had  experience  in  public  affairs  and 

business  enterprises.    Technical  education  or  training  i. 

not  essential,  though  very  desirable.  ...  To  assume  that  a 

man  is  fitted  for  executive  work  solely  because  he  posses«» 

techmcal  knowledge  or  experience  is  to  make  a  gravemi^ 

take ;  to  assume  that  he  is  not  a  capable  executive  because  of 

h«  technical  training  is  to  make  a  still  graver  mistake.'- 

Work  that  IS  professional  in  its  nature,  whether  in  private 

or  m  pubhc  business,  cannot  be  done  satisfactorily  unless 

trained  men  are  employed  to  do  it.    Much  of  the  work  in 

eveiy  city  department  is  professional  in  character,  and  must 

^erefore  be  done  by  men  of  skiU  if  it  is  to  be  done  well 
But  there  is  also  much  that  need,  to  be  done  with  a  ««k». 
siveness  to  pubhc  opinion  which  is  not  guaranteed  ^X 

Hence  It  happens  that  the  responsible  he«i  of  a  department 
must  have  that  general  administrative  capacity  ^ch  is 
neoe^aiy  to  make  his  branch  of  the  city's  business  run  in 
popuh^,  as  weU  as  m  efficient,  grooves;  otherwise,  he  i.  not 
hkely  to  remain  in  office  very  long. 

In  the  adoption  of  a  method  of  selecting  department  head. 
;*ere  «  one  consideration  which  ought  never  to  beoveriooked. 
This  IS  the  question  whether  the  plan  chosen  is  likdy  to 
prove  a  final  or  only  a  temporaiy  solution  of  a  difficult  j^ub- 


'■^mi' 


THE  ADMINISnUTIVB  DEPARTMENTS 


245 


lem.  Whatever  the  immediate  merits  of  any  system  of 
appointments  may  be,  it  does  not  promise  a  definitive  means 
of  putting  the  right  man  in  the  right  place  unless  it  paves  the 
way  to  a  development  of  sound  traditions.  The  experience 
of  European  cities  is  more  illuminating  upon  this  point 
than  upon  any  other.  The  men  at  the  head  of  the  various 
branches  of  administration  in  these  municipalities  are  of 
unquestioned  capacity,  not  because  statutory  checks  have 
been  put  upon  the  freedom  of  the  appointing  authorities, 
but  because  public  opinion  would  not  brook  the  selection  of 
any  other  type.  In  America  public  opinion  has  not  reached 
the  stage  at  which  it  can  exert  any  such  influence ;  but  this 
is  not  to  say  that  sound  traditions  in  the  matter  of  municipal 
appointments  cannot  be  developed  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
as  well  as  on  the  other.  Even  in  Kngl^nd  they  are  almost 
wholly  the  product  of  the  last  seventy-five  years;  and  in  a 
new  country,  where  traditions  develop  rapidly  when  th^ 
have  fair  opportunity,  the  time  required  ought  not  to  be  so 
long.  One  of  the  merits  of  the  Boston  plan  of  securing  de- 
partment heads,  accordingly,  is  that  it  attempts  to  set  a 
sound  tradition  in  process  of  growth.  It  *itn«  to  force 
the  appointing  authority  into  rational  habits. 

Election  by  popular  vote,  appointment  by  the  city  council,  TiwptM- 
appointment  by  the  mayor  with  the  concurrence  of  the  coun-  J??"'** 
cil  (or  the  upper  branch  of  it),  appomtmrait  by  the  mayor 
alone,  and  appointment  by  the  mayor  with  the  confirmation 
of  a  civil-service  commission, —these  are  the  various  methods 
by  which  heads  of  municipal  departments  are  ordinarily 
chosen.  Election  by  the  voters  is  still  a  common  practice; 
there  are  few  large  cities  which  do  not  choose  some  of  their 
chief  administrative  ofSdals  in  this  way.'    It  is  used  mainly, 

•  In  N«w  York  the  oomptnUar  ii  alMtMl ;  in  Phfladdphk  the  oomp. 
n^.  the «ty  traMnrar.  and  the  notwder  of  tKcee:  in  Chieaco  Uie  ci^ 

eimt  and  the  dty  tr«Mur«- ;  in  St.  Louii  about »  doiendepKtBMHit  head*  • 
>n  Baltimore  the  omnptroUor  and  the  nmreyOT;  and  eo  on.  ' 


Seleetioa  by 

thktUto 

MithoritiM. 


mim 


a«6  OOVIRNMINT  Of  AMIRICAN  CITIW 

Imt  by  no  means  altogether,  as  a  means  of  selecting  financial 
offioeis,  such  as  the  city  comptroUer,  the  treasurer,  or  the 
auditor.     In  general,  however,  it  is  the  least  satisfactory 
way  o   choosing  administrative  officials,  and  during  recent 
years  It  has  lost  ground  in  the  Ui«er  municipalities.   Appoint- 
ment  by  the  councU  is  still  the  method  employed  in  many 
Bouthem  cities,  and  to  some  extent  it  is  used  in  cities  through- 
out  other  sections  of  the  Union.>  In  cities  under  commission 
^vemment  the  commissioners  are  themselves  the  heads 
of  the  chief  admmistrative  departments.    Appointment  by 
the  mayor  with  the  concurrence  of  the  dty  council  (or  of 
the  upper  branch  of  it,  when  there  are  two  branches)  remains, 
on  the  whole,  the  most  common  method  of  selecting  depart^ 
ment  head..    Despite  the  organic  and  incidental^ort^m- 
rn^f  the  system  of  aldermanic  confirmation,  the  merits  and 

ment  still  has  a  strong  anchorage  b.  the  American  s^ 
^  local  government.  A  few  cities,  notably  New  York  and 
a«i  Francisco,  have  given  the  appointing  power  to  the  mayor 
alone,   requinng  no    concurrence  or    confirmation  of  hi. 

mr"^  T  '  TV^'  *"  "^^  '^^de^d'  ^>^  than 
most  of  those  which  preceded  it.  Boston  is  as  yet  the  only 
American  city  to  put  the  appointment  of  department  heads  in 
contro  of  the  mayor,  subject  to  confirmation  not  by  t^ity 

bo^'^  r  '"'^  °*^*'."»«thods  of  securing  department  heads, 
^L  nfK  ^  !  !"  appointment  by  uie  governor  or  by 
of  the  Umted  States  (Boston,  St.  Louis,  and  Balti^)  tiie 

city  c^"' ^""^ '~' ^''*""' '-^  «»P»«.  wh«  th.  oouBdl  H.poi»».  tl« 
■Above,  pp.  227-229. 


THE  ADMINIOTBATIVl  D1PABTMBNT8  247 

head  of  the  poUce  department  is  named  by  the  state.  In 
Boston  th»  headriup  i.  vested  in  a  ringle  commiarioner 
appomted  by  the  governor  of  Maaaachusetta;'  in  St.  Loui. 
he  pohce  department  i.  in  charge  of  a  board  made  up  of 
four  commiaaionera  appointed  by  the  governor  of  Miaaouri 
with  the  mayor  aa  a  member  «  o.^.«    fo  Baltimore  the 

^edT.^'!  "'r!^'  "^  °'  P«"^  commiaaionera  Z 
elected  by  the  two  houae.  of  the  Maryland  legiaUture  sitting 
m  Jomt  -««on.«  Other  example,  of  state  ^intmenHJ 
the  headriups  of  municipal  department,  can^  foZ  Z 
some  cities,  but  they  are  now  rare  and  are  becoming  steadily 
Tnl    w  I^  "  *  'r  "'  "*•**  interferencer^Spi 

pahty  a  better  type  of  official  than  would  have  been  secu,^ 
by  Its  own  efforts,  the  principle  involved  in  this  method  of 
appomtment  is  not  palatable  to  the  citiaens,  and  an  official  so 

hTC.""  ^^ '°  "^ ""' ^'"*-*^°- 

In  a  few  instance,  appointmenta  to  poKcy^ntrolling  Appofa*. 
mumcipal  post,  are  made  by  the  reguUr  staJTurta.  iS  '^^^ 
PhUadelphia  the  board  of  school  controUers  consist.  ^ 

!omC  r^^^f"'  "^^  ^y  **»*  i"^  °f  the  court  of 
common  pleas  for  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphir 

Corner  "^  '^^'^^'    ^  ^^  *he  South  Park 

Comm^sioners  are  na^  by  the  judgea  of  the  circuit  court 
of  Cook  county.  In  Boston  the  trustees  of  the  PranlT 
Fund  are  appomted  by  the  judges  of  the  supreme  c^f 

Law,  of  MiuauH,  1899.  pp.  80  ff.  '  '  ^' 

,  Charter  of  Baltiinora,  i  740. 

IW^^fnSS  «dIIr*T  ^  C^iabsioaers  and  U»,  linooln  Ptok 


BMatfagrthe 


liM 


248 


OOVERNMKNT  OF  AlISRICAN  CITIES 


Tbere- 
moval  of 
daiMrtnMDt 


the  commonwealth.    Similar  inttaneei  are  to  be  found  in 
other  dtiea.    The  ortensible  juitifieatiua  offered  for  this 
plan  is  that  in  some  cases  it  provides  the  only  sure  method  of 
removing  a  department  from  the  influence  of  partisan  politics. 
When  no  one  else  —  the  voters  of  the  city,  the  city  council, 
the  mayor,  the  governor,  or  the  sUte  legisUtuw  —  can 
be  trusted  to  make  strictly  non-poUtical  appointments,  the 
courts  senn  to  be  the  only  other  pubUo  authority  to  which 
recourse  can  be  had.    But  the  policy  embodies  very  dubious 
wisdom  at  best,  and  if  pursued  on  any  comprehensive  scale 
would  inevitably  draw  the  judidaiy  into  the  orbit  of  partisan 
poliUcs.    It  would  subject  the  judges  to  poUtical  pressure, 
and  m  the  long  run  would  both  lower  the  penonnel  of  the 
courts  and  impair  the  efficiency  with  which  they  perform 
th«r  regular  tasks  of  adjudication.  Whatever  benefits  might 
accrue  to  the  city  departments  whose  heads  could  be  ap- 
pointed  in  this  way  would,  m  the  end,  be  more  than  offset  by 
the  unwholesome  reaction  which  the  assumption  of  such 
duties  would  force  upon  the  courts  themselves.* 

Closely  rebted  to  the  system  of  appointing  heads  of 
administrative  departments  is  the  method  of  removing  them 
from  office.  When  such  officials  are  elected  by  popular 
vote,  there  is  usuaUy  no  way  of  removing  them  (unless  for 
grave  misconduct)  until  their  terms  are  expired,  except  in 
those  cities  which  have  made  tiie  recaU  arrangement  appU- 
cable  to  them.«  If  tiie  city  council  appoints,  it  can  also 
usuaUy  suspend  or  remove.  When  the  appointment  Ues 
with  the  mayor  subject  to  confirmation  by  the  council  or  by 
some  branch  of  it,  the  concurrence  of  this  body  is  commonly 
required  to  remove  a  department  head  from  his  post;  but 
when  the  mayor  alone  appoints,  he  has  usually  tiie  power  of 

« For  •  farther  diaomrion.  see  D.  B.  Baton.  Th$  OMammami  af  M„aiti. 
•  See  bek>w,  pp.  350-^56. 


THl  ADMINISTRATIVl  DIPARTMBNTS  249 

nanoval,  either  with  or  without  a  pubUc  hearing.  InBorton 
where  the  mayor  can  appoint  head,  of  city  department,  only 
With  the  a»ent  of  the  rtate  civiln^rvice  S^n,  Se- 
concurrence  of  thi.  body  ia  not  nece««y  to  mnovd  ^ 
a  few  caae.  pn,vuaon  ha.  been  made  for  the  din>laeement 
of  hjgher  cty  official,  by  a  proce«  of  local  i^^^\ 

^movaJ  of  high  officud.  without  jurt  cau«;  h.^  ofte^ 
toke  the  form  of  requirement,  that  definite  charge,  murt^ 
made  m  wntmg  before  the  removal  can  take  pkT  p^  ^ 
theae  regulation,  have  been  of  much  avaU.  however;  fo7t^; 
chaige.  may  be  couched  in  term,  too  general  to  p;rm^„ 

Z^^LfT"'  "'  ''"^  "  "^y  »°  provirionTr  « 
impartial  determmation  of  the  quertion  a.  to  whether  or  Z 
the  comphunt.  are  weU  grounded.' 

Much  effort  ha.  been  expended  by  the  fr»me«  of  dtv  t^    u. 
charter  to  provide  «curitie.  againet  unfair  andlLltr  ^^ 

difficult  to  dmplace  men  who  are  already  at  the  head  of  dvte 

would  not  be  so  groat.    If  thero  wero  no  romo^  «^ 
for  jurt  cau«,  thero  would  be  no  official  .poil. ;  i^if^ 

upITtrrT  :PP«^*^«»*'  »*  ^^  ^e  found,  ha.  co^ 
upon  the  heel,  of  an  unjurt  removal.  Some  .icuritie.  for 
pennan«ace  in  office  on  the  part  of  departmLTST^ 
accordmgly,  much  to  be  dedrod;  but,  uS  ^^^7 
fective  safeguanl.  againrt  the  abuae  of  pow«  ZT.! 
ye^  difficult  to  ertablidi.    Law.  th^    S  ^Z 

T:  '?h:i''*^*^^  •*'  -  ^^^«  ^°  overroaTtJ::^ 

selve..    They  avad  httle  when  a  hoirtUe  dty  coundl  hoSi 


^^For  «  ffl„rt«tfc».  see  the  p»v»«i  ia  ti» 
•See  .hi  below,  pp.  386-287. 


of  Onver,  Colo. 


Thette. 

tributioBol 

BMinicipal 

functfaMM 

among 

depart- 

■MbU. 


OOVIRNMINT  or  AMlBIOJUf  CITUI 

the  pune-Btringf  and  e«n  deny  the  approprUtion  for  an 
official'.  aaUiy.    They  overreach  themaelvee  when  they 
operate  to  keep  in  office  a  man  who  no  loncer  ean  work  in 
■ome  degree  of  harmony  with  the  elected  lepreeentaUvea 
of  the  voters.    For  tho  general  d'-ct  Jon  of  adminiatratiw 
affairs  the  mayor  is  deem«Ki  responsible  to  the  dtisens. 
To  be  properly  accountable  he  must  be  in  control.    If  he 
has  no  right  to  remove  chiefs  of  departments,  he  can  aU  too 
resdily  disclaim  responsibility  for  what  they  do.    If  these 
officers  are  not  elected,  and  are  not  hekl  accountable  to 
the  appointing  authority,  th<7  are  devoid  of  direct  r*. 
sponsibiUty;    and  power  without  req>OBsibility   is    none 
the  less  intolerable  because  those  who  wield  it  may  have 
been  originaUy  chosen  on  their  merits.    This  principle  was 
recognised  in  the  New  York  charter  amendments  of  1901 
and  in  the  Boston  amendments  of  1909,  both  of  which  gave 
the  mayor  fuU  power  to  remove  heads  of  departments  with- 
out the  concurrence  of  any  other  authority,  either  sUte  or 
municipal.    That  is  the  procedure  foUowed  in  the  cities  of 
Great  Britain,  where  the  councU,  which  is  the  appointing 
authority,  may  remove  a  dty  official  at  any  time  and  for 
any  cause.    The  only  security  against  the  abuse  of  this  dis- 
cretion in  English  ciUes  is  a  pubUc  opinion  which  requins 
councillors  to  work  in  harmony  with  the  administrative  chiefs 
and  militates  against  the  reelection  of  those  who  fail  to  do 
so.    A  similar  security  is  the  only  thing  which  can  ever 
permanently  avail  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States.    Public 
opinion,  if  developed  in  the  right  direction,  can  accomplish 
what  laws  have  thus  far  failed  to  do ;  and  one  way  to  develop 
pubUc  opinion  is  to  throw  the  responsibility  upon  it. 

American  cities  differ  considerably  in  the  number  of  ad- 
ministrative departments  which  they  maintain.  In  New 
York  there  are  fifteen  regular  city  departments  (not  including 
the  five  borough  administrations),  besides  ahnost  a  score 


THl  AinUNItnUTIVl  DIPARTMINTS  261 

Of  bowcli.  and  offiekk  that  do  not  come  within  the  «up«w 
vwon  of  t^  Wfulw  dep«rtm«itt.»    In  Chici^o  there  .» 
twelve  chief  depwtment.,  meet  of  them  organised  under 
ordinance,  of  the  dtyooundL    Philaddphia  ha.  only  eleven 
department.,  aU  of  them  provided  for  in  the  city  charter* 
St.  Loui.  ha.  rixteen,  and  Boeton  ha.  more  than  thirty.' 
SnuUer  dtie.  ittually  find  eight  or  ten  department,  ample, 
and  those  which  have  adopted  thecommiMiontypeofgovCTnl 
mcnt  are  aWe  to  manage  .ffair.  with  only  five.*    In  the  or- 
dinaiy  municipality  of  medium  dse  thm  are,  perhap..  a 
half^o«en  dirtinct  brandie.  of  adminirtration%equwi« 
•eparate  managemeat.    TTie**  ar^  for  inataace,  the  mum^ 
pal  law  department,  the  department  of  finance  (which  may 
mdude  a«e«ment.,  taxee,  the  treamier'.  office,  and  audit), 
the  departn.  .at  of  pubUc  uJety  (including  police,  fire  pro- 
tection,  hcemang,  and  building  in.pection),  the  department 
of  pubUc  worfa,  (mduding  the  conrtructi«»  and  maCumee 

w  forth),  the  department  f  public  health  (including  Mnit». 
tion,  hospital.,  inspection  of  foodn  nff.,  control  c.  markets 
weights  .  nd  meaaures,  and  dmilai  ,.....*>,  and  ti  ,  depart 

ferriea.  wwiw^  (lo)  mtpg^m,  (11)  ^tlMrm,  iotkt,  «4id 

Sf).  ek^«^' ^'-•'•*^  «--•-'*«  ^--^-SS^ 


262 


OOVBRNMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Reduction 
of  depart- 
tnenta  de- 
■inble. 


ment  of  education,  in  chaige  of  the  municipal  school  and 
public-library  systems. 

There  seems  to  be  no  very  good  reason  why,  save  in  very 
large  cities,  the  whole  administration  should  not  be  ap- 
portioned in  these  six  departments,  each  of  which,  again, 
might  be  organized  into  two  or  more  divisions  or  bureaus.' 
Apart  from  those  municipalities  which  have  simplified  their 
administrative  machinery  by  the  introduction  of  commission 
government,  there  is  scarcely  a  city  in  the  country  that  does 
not  possess  a  departmental  organization  too  compUcated  for 
Its  needs.*    Not  only  does  this  result  in  a  failure  to  get  a 
doUar  s  worth  of  service  for  a  doUar's  expenditure,  but  it  pre- 
vents  the  heads  of  departments  from  forming,  as  they  might 
profitably  do,  a  sort  of  mayor's  cabinet  that  might  meet  fre- 
quently  and  by  the  frank  discussion  of  current  projects  serve 
to  put  more  team  play  into  the  work  of  making  the  city's 
revenue  match  its  expenses.    Five  or  six  department  heads 
can  do  this ;  fifteen  or  twenty  cannot.     .Tiat  service  which 
cabmet  meetings  render  to  the  natio-'al     .  ninistration  is 
rarely  obtained  in  city  aBau-a. 

r.r«a  .  ^®^  ^  ^^^  Re^eral  distribution  of  municipal  work  among 

oonunwoa-  departments,  comes  the  question  whether  the  city  depart- 
ments ought  to  be  put  in  charge  of  boards  of  single  commis- 
sioners.  There  was  a  time  when  board  plan  was  more 
m  favor,  but  in  recent  years  the  pendulum  of  popuhmty 
has  swung  to  the  one-man  system  of  departmentalsupervision. 

Bureau  of  Municip^Re«a«,h:  Afe^p*,.;  a  ?  JaS/o/ «.  jJ^S 


BuMdi 
tertu» 


THE  ADMINISTRATIVE  i>BPARTMENT8  263 

Board  administration  has,  however,  some  important  ad- 
vantages.   In  the  first  pUce,  there  are  certain  departments 
which,  from  the  very  character  of  the  work  that  comes  within 
their  jurisdiction,  are  weU  suited  to  the  board  system.    The 
school  department,  quite  obviously,  is  one  of  these.    So  is 
the  department  of  public  Ubraries ;  and  so,  likewise,  although 
perhaps  to  a  less  pronounced  degree,  are  the  departments  of 
poor  reUef,   hospitals,    and  pubUc  recreation.    These  are 
branches  of  the  city's  business  in  which  deliberation  and 
care  are  essential  to  success,  in  which  different  temperaments 
and  different  points  of  view  may  contribute  to  prudent 
action.    On  the  other  hand,  the  city's  Uw  department,  its 
poUce  and  fire-protection    services,  and  some  other  Uke 
branches  of  municipal  administration,  are  quite  as  cleariy 
unsuited  to  competent  direction  by  more  than  a  single  head. 
In  the  same  city  there  is,  accordingly,  room  for  both  systems! 
each  to  be  empbyed  where  the  conditions  demand. 

Again,  the  board  pUn  can  be  used  to  faciUtate  continuity 
of  departmental  poUcy  wherever  this  seems  to  be  a  requisite 
of   satisfactoiy    administration.    A    single    commissioner 
when  his  term  expires,  takes  his  poli'y  out  of  ofllce  with 
him;  for  his  successor,  particularly  if  he  be  chosen  by  a 
new  administration,  is  apt  to  depart  from  the  beaten  path 
If  only  to  advertise  his  own  initiative.    Hence,  departments 
m  charge  of  single  heads  often  faU  to  develop  comprehensive 
pohcies.    They  cannot  map  out  plans  over  fair  periods  of 
time,  for  things  done  during  one  term  are  Ukely  to  be  undone 
m  the  next.    With  a  board  of  thre^  or  five  membere  in 
charge,  on  the  contrary,  a  system  of  partial  renewal  at  stated 
times  can  be  employed  to  prevent  any  loss  of  continuity. 
t^hanges  of  poUcy  wiU  then  come  gradually,  and  not  be 
dependent  upon  the  judgment  or  the  caprice  of  a  single  indi- 
vidual, obviously  a  very  important  consideration  in  depart- 
ments Uke  education  and  public  improvements.    It  wiU  be 


AdvantasM 
oftheboMd 
■yiteni. 


1-  ItiawcU 
•dm>tedto 
tlMneadtof 
aomcd*. 

PVtIIMBtt. 


2.  Itculw 

lUMitOM. 

euraeon- 
tinnitjrnf 


PoUejr. 


NHii 


254 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


8.  Unanbt 
aaedto 
•fford  n>p- 
iwentetion 
of  diverw 
intecMU. 


found  that  in  the  interest  of  prudence,  no  less  than  in  that 
of  sequence  in  poUcy,  practicaUy  aU  large  state  and  national 
undertakings  are  intrusted  to  boards  rather  than  to  single 
officials. 

Furthermore,  an  administrative  board  may  be  so  consti- 
tuted as  to  afford  representation  to  any  interest,  whether 
geographical,  social,  or  poUtical,  which  may  seem  to  be 
entitled  thereto.    It  may  weU  be  questioned  whether  there 
are  many  city  departments  in  which  the  represenUtion  of 
several  interests  can  be  otherwise  than  harmful;  but  there 
are  a  few,  at  least,  in  which  a  denial  of  representation  is  sure 
to  provoke  much  popular  opposition.    In  the  administration 
of    the    city's  schools,    for  example,   the    board    system 
can  be  employed  to  allay  the  misgivings  of  those  who 
would  be  forever  alleging  religious  and  social  discrimimt- 
tion,  were  a  single  commissioner,  whatever  his  creed  or  class, 
in  complete  control  of  the  staff  and  curriculum.    In  the  de^ 
partment  which  determines  the  location  of  public  improve- 
naents,  again,  the  different  geographical  divisions  of  the 
city  are  insistent  in  their  demand  for  representation  lest 
their  special  needs  be  overiooked.    Then  there  are  some  de- 
jwtments  that  have  tasks  of  a  semi-poUtical  nature  to  per- 
form, in  regard  to  which  both  poUtical  parties  want  to  be 
heard.    Such  departments  are  those  which  have  in  charge 
the  listing  or  registration  of  voters,  or  the  conduct  of  prima- 
ries and  elections.    To  put  a  single  commissioner  in  full  con- 
trol of  such  matters  is  to  intrust  the  decision  of  partisan 
questions  to  one  whose  political  affiliations  or  antecedents 
mevitably  come  forward  in  the  pubUc  mad  as  the  real 
motive  of  his  acts.     Not  that  bi-partisan  hoards  have  been 
conspicuously  successful  iu  American  cities;  they  have,  on 
the  contrary,  too  frequently  bf^sn  the  centres  of  poUtical 
friction  and  chicane.    But  there  is  a  flavor  of  unfairness  in 
intrusting  functions  that  cannot  be  whoUy  withdrawn  from 


THB  ADMINISTRATIVE  DEPARTMBNTO  255 

the  gridiron  of  poUtics  to  any  single  umpire  whose  affiliations 
are  or  have  been  with  one  of  the  contestants.     Hence  the 
bi-partisan  board,  even  with  its  ahnost  inevitable  wrangles 
becomes  a  necessaiy  concession  to  popular  notions  of  fai^ 
play.  "^ 

Again,  the  board  system  can  frequently  be  supported  on  4.  Uoft« 
the  score  of  economy.    In  municipalities  of  any  considerable  ^TtS!?"- 
«ze  the  work  of  administering  a  city  department  is  u    aUy  ^^^ 
enough  to  take  the  most  of  any  one  man's  time.    If  it  be  in-  '*"''*' 
trusted  whoUy  to  one  man,  either  he  must  be  one  whose 
private  wealth  enables  him  to  serve  the  city  without  mone- 
tary recompense  or  he  must  receive  a  salary.    As  it  scarcely 
seems  desirable  that  none  but  men  of  wealth  should  he 
eligible  to  department  headships,  the  single^mmissioiier 
system  mvolves  the  prtvctice  of  paying  substantia  .Upends. 
!^n    I T""  ^^"^  •»iaries,if  paidin  ever^dqwirtmentand 
If  fixed  at  figures  sufficient  to  draw  competent  experts  into 
the  mumcipal  service,  would  involve  a  considerable  drain 
upon  the  city  treasury.    Moreover,  as  Professor  Go«i«,w 
has  pointed  out,  it  would  probably  mean  the  filling  of  higher 
municipal  offices  by  'men  who  make  poUtics  tueir  profes^ 
obtaimng  th«r  hveUhood  from  the  emolument  of  the  vano^ 
offices  *vey  fill,  one  after  the  other."'    This  is  exactly  what 
has  resulted,  m  many  smaller  cities  of  the  United  Stat« 
from  the  repUcing  of  boards  by  single  department  heads.' 
Encouragement  ha.  been  given,  not  to  the  p^fesdonal 
administrator,  but  to  the  professional  salary-seeker, 
th.  w  ^r!  ?"*!"°'  furthermore,  offers  some  advantages  in  s.  Ub«. 
the  way  of  brmging  the  ordinary  citizen  into  contact  with  T^ 
cmc  affairs  and  thereby  of  inc..asing  his  civire^ueatrn    -r'- 
Res  ing  upon  the  idea  that  the  amateur  has  a  place  in  the 
cuys  admimstrative  service,  it  permits  men  drawn  from 
the  business  and  professional   life  of  the  community  to 
*  CUf  O^mrnment  i»  tk,  VniM  Slate,  (New  York.  1904).  193. 


TiMboMd 
•yitMii 
provM  afll* 
aitot  only 
when  espert 
ofleUla  are 
enployad. 


256  GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 

take  their  share  of  public  service  without  too  much  per- 
■onal  sacrifice.    What  may  require  the  entire  time  of  one 
man  need  take  only  the  leisure  of  five.    There  are  always 
some  city  departments  in  which  the  work  is  of  such  a  nature 
that  it  can  be  divided  easUy  and  even  to  advantage     The 
various  members  of  a  board  can  be  put  in  immediate  charge 
of  the  things  for  which  their  private  vocations  have  best 
fitted  them  or  in  which  they  happen  to  take  most  interest. 
This,  indeed,  is  the  practice  pursued  by  most  boards ;  hence 
the  Idea  that  the  board  system  tends  to  diffuse  responsibility 
18  not  often  sustained  by  actual  experience.    On  questions  of 
general  pohcy  administrative  boards  usuaUy  act  as  a  whole 
but  on  the  host  of  detaUed  mattera  that  come  before  them 
their  action  is  more  often  determined  by  the  advice  of  that 
particular  member  who  is  most  familiar  with  the  special  point 
at  issue.    It  is  with  this  in  mind  that  a  mayor  very  often  so 
constitutes  a  board  as  to  secure  the  representation  of  different 
talents  upcn  it. 

The  board  plan  can  be  made  to  operate  satisfai^rily. 
however,  only  when  the  subordinate  officials  of  the  depart- 
m^nt  are  chosen  by  some  weU-administered  merit  system. 
1  he  latter  is  necessary  not  only  to  assure  in  the  personnel 
of  the  department  that  professional  skill  and  knowledge 
which  members  of  the  board  cannot  be  caUed  upon  to  supply, 
but  also  to  protect  the  Utter  against  the  pressure  of  patron- 
•ge-seeken.    When  this  safeguard  is  provided,  the  unpaid 
board  can  render  an  important  .service  by  keeping  adminis- 
trative  poUcy  in  touch  with  popular  sentiment,  by  steering 
the  city  s  administrative  methods  from  the  ruts  into  whi^h 
professionaUsm  is  likely  to  run,  and  by  standing  as  a  buffer 
between  the  poUtical  machine  and  the  men  who  are  on 
the  department  pay-roU.    The  branch  of  American  city 
admimstration  which  has  in  general  been  managed  most 
efficiently,  and  has  at  the  same  time  been  most  constantly 


THE  ADMINI8TRATIVB  DBPARTMEa^TS  267 

in  tune  vdth  pubUc  opinion,  is  the  school  department     It 
18  in  this  field  of  administration  nerh.«-     "''Pariment.    it 

boarf.    Under  di«.t  «,nt™l  .£  the  boart.  howeTerT^ 
expert  m«i„ction.l  «lini,urt«.tion  u.,Uy  dL^ 
X^^  t  of  »ho„U,  who  ^ppUe.  „,k  .J«~fl* 
«^«  the  bo.«i  n..y  need,  «.d  who*  «|vice  »  t«,hni^ 

be  he«  ,0,  the  depaAlTT^t' o  ^tST  I^'  ^^ 
promptness  of  decision,  finnne*.  in  *ul^  P^tection,  where  ^uchth, 
«,v,i!«l       J        ^«iwu,  nnnness  m  the  mamt -nance  of  dis-  «««»«». 
ciphne,  and  capacity  for  vifforoiM  ai^.««  -     ZT  miSoSr 

and  «,me  other  department,  the  auperior  efficiM.e7„rZ 
au.«lMonmii-iM,er  ayrteo.  am  be  ^T^T^L^ 

.^":t:'h're:r.nTt:rt;:t  w^'^^':sr^ 

eitie,  h.™  diapUoed  it  aeen-  to  ^ca^L"  ^1^ 
t.e.  h.™  not  alwaya  been  auffioiently  emphairf  ^^ 
.or  Goodnow  ha.  ^ggeted  that  the  U  oFZ^^can^ 

ton  wh^ir^  r.  V  ""^  Pw^dent,  not  it.  dirw- 
JT'  „  n  J-  '^  dominate,  the  inrtitution.  Din»i„r, 
who  reaUy  daect  have  almort  become  agmenta  ofn^l^ 

which  iT^;S^'lfr'',^'""™'  «^  «  •  poucy 

Th.  t,™,.    .5      '°«»»«1  without  aome  deviation. 

thc^be^Zet"^?™  *°  "'•^°'«'*  '■-'•■  ''^"'-  -- - 
/  »«  .m«l.  comm»,„ne„  or  member,  of  a  b«,rd,  ought  ^£!tZu. 


iiatti 


2fi8 


OOVBRNiONT  OP  AMBRICAN  CITIli 


Ji 


mentK  ari- 
desirable. 


to  be  longer  than  thme  usually  provided.    The  prajudiee 
against  extended  terms  is  deeply  rooted  in  the  United  States ; 
it  harks  b.,ck  to  the  days  when  public  offices  were  every- 
where regarded  as  prises  which  lucky  individuals  ought  not 
to  hold  too  long.    The  idea  that  city  offices  ought  to  go 
round,  ought  to  be  passed  along  the  line  at  intMrals  to  tlKwe 
who  had  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  political  battle,  is 
one  of  the  hallucinations  that  were  too  long  suffered  to  pass 
muster  as  sound  principles  of  democracy.    When  the  oSm 
of  departmental  chief  is  regarded  as  a  difficult  and  noM  too 
remunerative  occupation  which  only  capable  men  em  o^ 
cupy,  and  then  only  at  some  private  sacrifice,  there  wiU  be  less 
pressure  in  favor  of  shortening  official  terms.    How  long  a 
commissioner  in  charge  of  a  city  department  shouU  be  ap- 
pointed to  serve  depends  somewhat  upon  the  nature  of  the 
tasks  which  he  has  to  perform.    If  the  department  be  one 
which  plans  its  work  over  a  number  of  years,  the  head  should 
at  least  be  retained  for  such  space  of  time  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  bring  his  own  plans  to  fruition.    If  he  is  to  be  judged 
by  results,  he  should  have  time  enough  to  make  the  results 
his  own.    A  term  long  enough  to  plan  and  produce  returns, 
yet  not  so  long  as  to  inspire  a  disregard  of  popular  sentiment, 
is  what  the  head  of  a  city  department  ought  to  have.    This 
may  weU  be  six  years;  it  ought  rarely,  if  ever,  to  be  less 
th«i  three.    \Vhere  tenure  of  administrative  office  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  better  in  case  of  doubt  to  err  on  the  side  of 
iiberahty.    Indefinite  terms  are  not  regarded  as  satisfactory 
either  by  th«  voters  in  general  or  by  the  officials  themselves. 
Too  often  they  encourage  persistent  interference  to  secure 
the  removal  of  m  officer. 

More  to  be  desired,  however,  than  long  terms  is  the  tradi- 
tion of  reappointment.  That  such  tradition  can  be  de- 
voloped  is  shown  by  the  experience  of  some  American  cities 
in  «?hich  certain  heads  of  departments  have  through  sue- 


TBI  ADMINISnUTmt  DBPARTMBNT9  350 

cemr^  reappotBtmento  heid  their  pMitioiu  for  ten,  fifteen 
or  even  twenty  years.     Much  has  been  Raid  by  American' 
wnten  on  mnnidpal  govenment  concerning  the  long  periods 
over  which  the  chief  office*  of  English  city  department, 
have  been  suffered  to  remain  unmolested;   but  a  detailed 
exanunatiim  of  actual  conditions  in  the  cities  of  the  two 
countries  would  probably  disclose  that  the  difference  in  this 
respect  »  «rt  so  great  as  is  commonly  imagined.    It  must 
be  remembered,  moreover,  that  the  faciUty  with  which  a  city 
officul  can,  for  his  own  advancement,  pass  from  municipal 
to  private  employment  is  much  less  marked  in  Enghind 
than  It  is  »  tWs  country.    When  the  head  of  a  city  depart- 
ment m  the  United  States  gives  up  his  post  after  a  few 
years  of  service,  it  does  not  always  mean  that  he  has  been 
denied  r«ippointment.    Very  often  it  is  because  he  has 
discovered  a  mo»e  lucrative  opening  in  some  other  field 
A  successful  orga««H-  and  administrator  in  the  city's  ser^ 
;.'ice  soon  catches  the  eye  of  some  private  corporation  which 
IS  wUhng  to  pay  him  more  than  the  city  is  i^y  to  offer. 

The  remedy  for  this  would,  of  course,  be  to  pay  higher  Th.  -uh- 
salaries  to  successful  heads  of  departments.    Bui  the  ^e  ^^'^ 
of  municipal  salaries  is  not  fixed  on  a  bad.  of  what  thel^  ""*  '^ 
aervice  is  worth ;  it  is  rather  a  question  of  what  pubUc  opin- 
ion  B  ready  to  tolerato.    To  the  president  a«l  dii^to«  of 
1^^"^^"'  corporation  ten  thousand  dolh«s  per  amium 
1    venr  httle  to  pay  for  the  services  of  a  man  wVo  can  do 

ke  a  s^T'"^'  *°  ^  ^^"' ""'  ''''  •^^"^  -^r  't  looks 

and  ought  to  have,  m  the  way  of  efficient  legal,  enirineerimr 
finaacal,  aamtaiy.  and  educational  skiU,  it  lui  hTto^; 

ouaZ  ""  °^"  ™"''^*  '*  ''""*"'  ?"««•  'or  a  stated 
Tv^'  / ,  .n"f  P*y  ^^*^  ^'^^^'  «"««»  than  private  em- 
Ployers  of  skUl,  for  the  expert  who  hi,«,  with  the  city  murt 


260 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMEBICAN  CITIES 


L  * 


prepare  to  serve  a  fickle  master.    Compared  with  EngUih, 
Frewh,  c*r  German  municipalities,  the  American  city  may 
seem  to  be  paying  its  chief  officials  quite  enough ;  but  that 
is  not  the  viewpoint  from  which  comparisons  should  be 
made.    The  chief  officials  of  foreign  cities  take  much  of 
their  real  remuneration  in  the  honor  that  attaches  to  their 
posts,  m  the  security  of  tenure  which  they  enjoy,  and  in  the 
liberal  pension  provisions  that  are  made  for  them  on  re- 
tnrement.    American  cities  give  none  of  these  things.    The 
only  profitable  comparison  is  that  which  may  be  made  be- 
tween the  salaries  paid  Tor  skiU  and  service  of  the  same  qual- 
ity in  municipal  and  in  private  business.    From  this  point 
of  view,  the  city's  scale  is  too  low  in  the  l-'^her  branches  of 
its  service  and  too  lagh  in  the  lower  grades.    On  the  whole, 
much  has  been  done  in  recent  yeara  to  improve  this  situa- 
tion;   but  the  city's  handicap  is  not  yet  by  any  means 
overcome.* 

While  much  of  the  responsibiUty  for  efficiency  or  ineffi- 

hy.prop-   "®°'^  ""  *'"'  *'''°'*"*^  °'  **»*  "^y'"  business  will  always  de- 
Mi.».      P«nd  upon  the  spirit  and  capacity  of  the  men  who  are  at  the 
»'         heads  of  the  various  departments,  not  a  little  also  hinges 
upon  the  way  in  which  the  work  is  distributed  to  the  several 
administrative  authorities,  and  upon  the  care  with  which 
departments  are  themselves  internally  organised.    A  dis- 
tribution of  functions  which  leaves  gaps,  or  which  causes 
overiapping,  or  which  from  its  Uck  of  defiaiteness  gives 
frequent  basis  for  friction,  is  all  too  common  in  Urge  cities 
and  proves  a  fertile  source  of  wastefuhiess.    Take  the  whole 
field  of  municipal  public  works,  for  example.    Reason  and 
experience  both  dictate  that  this  entire  branch  of  city  ad- 
mmistration  should  be  centralised  in  a  single  department; 
yet  very  rarely  is  that  poUcy  foUowed.    Street  improvements 

aw-^*  diwMrioa  in  NCMd  to  peii«»«  to  city  offioUb.  we  beknr,  pp. 


Oainain 

effieienejr 

tobehwl 


tionof 
dmwt- 
meata. 


THl  ADMINIWRATIVl  DIPARTMBNTB  361 

•w  put  in  Charge  of  one  authority,  sewer  eonftruetion  it  in 
the  hands  of  another,  and  the  extennon  of  the  water^pply 
system  is  intrusted  to  a  third.  Bach  of  the  three  then  pri 
ceeds  to  its  own  work  without  reference  to  the  plana  of  the 
others,  with  the  result  that  aU  too  frequenUy  ther«  is  oveiw 
hipping  of  effort,  or  friction,  deUy,  and  unneeessaiy  ouUaya 
of  both  time  and  money.  That  most  American  cities  have 
more  departments  ^han  they  reaUy  need  is  a  sufficient  ob- 
stacle to  efficiency,  but  even  worse  than  the  multipUcation 
of  these  divisions  is  the  faHure  of  dUes  to  make  them  work 
m  cooperation. 

Another  prolific  cause  of  waste  both  in  Ubor  and  in  ma-  oi- to  n 
tcnals  IS  the  faulty  internal  organisation  of  individual  de-  ^.^^.'^ 
Dartnn<>ntB       In    all   mtt^^^^^-t..!   • -^  .....  iiwiwnoB 


In  all  successful  business  establishments  two  ««**«to«tafa- 


partments 

—  ■'— "WW  cDMuusumenfs  two  """"""^ 

or  three  fundamental  niles  of  organi«ition  are  observed  as  SSm^ 
a  matter  of  course;   yet  by  municipal  corporations  which 
perform  tasks  of  ahnost  identicaUy  the  same  general  char- 
acter  these  rules  are  often  disregarded  altogether.     One 
Of  them  18  the  commonpUce  principle  that  the  lines  of  n- 
sponsibiUty  for  every  separate  branch  of  a  business  should 
converge  in  some  one  individual  or  group  of  individual, 
in  other  words,  no  subordinate  officer  should  be  aUowed  to 
hold  a  place  of  isoUtion  so  far  as  his  responsibility  is  con- 
cerned.   In  large  industrial  enterprises  the  buying,  manu- 
factunng,  and  selling  branches  of  the  business  are  com- 
nutted  to  separate  departments,  each  with  its  own  head. 
Ihwe  departments  may  be  subdivided  again,  but  the  hier- 
archy of  accountabiUty  is  always  rigidly  preserved.    In  the 
management  of  the  city's  business,  however,  this  principle 
rarely  gams  anything  like  full  recognition.*    The  heads  of 


Thenaadof 
greater  at- 
tention to 
the  buaineaa 
proviaiona 
of  city 
charten. 


OOVERNMENT  OF  AMIRIOAN  CITIM 

■ome  departments  are  ohoeen  by  the  mayor  and  are  n- 
aponsible  to  him  alone ;  the  headi  of  othent  are  chosen  by 
the  city  council  and  are  Ksponsible  to  it ;  and  the  heads  of 
still  others  are  elected  by  the  voters  and  are  responsible  to 
them.  The  inevitable  result  is  inter-departmental  jealousy 
and  often  open  antagoninn.  Tlie  street  department  puts 
down  a  new  pavement,  only  to  find  that  the  water  or  seww 
age  authorities  have  planned  to  rday  thdr  maina  in  that 
particular  thoroughfare.  Friction  between  departm«its  is 
in  some  cities  a  matter  of  almost  daily  occurrence.  Police 
and  licensing  authorities  failing  to  work  in  unison,  the  city's 
sanitary  department  clashing  with  the  board  of  health,  the 
fire  departmokt  at  issue  with  the  departmoit  of  buildings 
inspection,  —  these  are  incidents  that  have  become  so  com- 
mon as  hardly  to  cause  comment  outside  of  the  administra- 
tive circles  immediately  concerned.  All  this  is  fatal  to  the 
development  of  economical  administrative  methods,  for 
with  divided  responsibility  much  duplication  of  work  is  un- 
avoidable. The  existing  situation  is  all  the  more  exaqier- 
ating  from  the  fact  that  it  continues  for  no  other  reason  than 
because  political  and  personal  influences  are  permitted  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  desirable  consolidations  and  readjittt- 
ments  of  departmental  functions. 

In  modem  city  charters  too  'ittle  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  way  in  which  the  actual  work  of  the  municipality  shall 
be  done.  The  task  of  organizing  the  various  departmmts, 
and  of  determining  the  branches  into  which  these  depart- 
ments shall  be  divided,  has  usually  been  left  to  the  discretion 
of  the  city  council.  This  body,  unfortunately,  has  very 
rarely  shown  itself  capable  of  handling  such  matters  without 
regard  to  political  considerations ;  and  the  result  has  been 
the  development  of  administrative  machinery  which  no 
p  ivate  business  could  long  maintain  without  ceasing  to 
pay  dividends.    The  bestowal  of  more  care  upon  what  may 


TOl  ADMINMTIUTIVl  DEPARTMlNTi 

t.^^  **"^r'*  '^^^^^ ""  '''y  «»«^  would 

pn.bably  fbd  ample  «p.yment  in   the  ,«ulu  th«^; 


RBVaBBNCM 

»«*n  bought  «<*2Er?riS?i2t^r2;^ 

The  beat  dii(i.  »«„»  of  WbtmSofa  A    R   n^*^""^"*"- 
ehMgM  have  bew  BtuaJwrS^SL^iSlS,  I-  *?.*  •drntabtnitlv. 

»«« method.  .^  bTfaSTfa  tS^l'SL*!!^*^  »*^^  •••y'-  »«-• 

"»  ■PnWio  Work.  Adntailiia™.^'.  ??  '  •  """I""  I"  •  «>»<1  oll.|H« 
•!«. h. found  in F  J  OoodTai^i.     ■  ■  ■  . 5?°" """^  WormUon  ur 


MKiocory  MiotuTioN  na  chait 

(ANSI  end  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


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r       16S3  East  Uoin  Slrtel 
-        Rochester.  N«»  York        1*609       USA 
(716)  482  -  0300  -  Phon. 

(7ie)  2aa  -  ata  -  t<m 


264 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


1903),  Am.  iL-viii. ;  and  D.  F.  'V^^loox's  Oovernmtnt  iff  Ortat  Ameriean 
CUiet  (New  York,  1910),  elu.  iiL-viL  The  rake  of  l*w  reiatmg  to  adminb- 
temtive  organization  and  funotiona  aze  nt  f<»th  in  J.  F.  Dillon'i  Law  </ 
Municipal  CorporationM  (5  volt.,  Boston.  1911),  eqwoially  vcd.  I.  H  96- 
421 ;  and  in  Eugene  MoQuillin's  Law  of  Municipal  Corporationa  (6  volt., 
Chicago,  1911-1912),  II.  982  ff. 

Some  interesting  judicial  deeiaioni  in  the  aame  field  are  printed  in 
J.  H.  Beale'B  SeUetion  of  Catea  on  the  Law  of  Municipal  Corporation$ 
(Cuubridge.  1911),  especially  pp.  203-239. 


CHAPTER  XI 

MUNICIPAL  OFFICIAIS  AND  BUPLOTXBB 

Thb  proper  handling  of  its  labor  force,  skilled  and  un-  -n^^', 
skilled,  IS  one  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  of  routine  j!^'**- 
administration  in  American  cities.    How  should  the  great 
body  of  municipal  officials  and  employees,  from  the  deputy 
head  of  a  department  at  a  large  annual  stipend  to  the  com- 
mon seweivdigger  at  two  dollars  a  day,  be  chosen  from  the 
rangeof  expert  and  crude  labor  available?    How  may  the 
maintenance  of  discipline  among  them  be  best  assured  ?    By 
what  channels  should  suspensions  and  dismissals  of  the  in- 
competent be  procured,   and  what  adequate  safeguards 
agamst  wrongful  and  partisan  removals  ou^t  a  city  charter 
to  provide?    What  practical  protection  may  a  city  obtain 
through  the  laws  and  ordinances  against  the  padding  of 
pay-rolls,  the  maintenance  of  sinecure  posts,  the  pernicious 
pohtical  activity  of  employees,  and  the  other  kindred  sources 
of  waste  and  corruption  ?    How  should  officials  and  employ- 
ees who  have  grown  old  in  the  city's  service  be  taken  care 
of  7    These  are  some  of  the  questions  that  every  city  must 
answer  satisfactorily  before  it  can  be  said  to  have  achieved 
any  approach  to  finaUty  in  the  solution  of  its  administrative 
problems. 

w^fh'"!?^'?  city  is  a  very  large  employer  of  labor,  and  Numwc 
with  the  steady  extension  of  pubUc  services  it  is  coming  to  Z^ZT 
play  a  more  and  more  important  part  in  this  capacity.    If  '^^ 
one  adds  together  the  rank  and  file  of  the  police  and  fire 
departments,  the  teachers  and  other  officers  of  the  public 
schools,  the  officials  and  employees  of  the  street,  water. 


266 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIB8 


Labor  and 
poUtict. 


sewerage,  parks,  and  various  other  departments,  one  finds 
that  the  total  number  included  within  the  category  of  those 
who  are  either  directly  or  indirectly  dependent  upon  wages 
from  the  municipal  treasury  is  larger  than  most  persons 
imagine.  In  New  York  the  number  is  about  65,000,  or 
nearly  eight  per  cent  of  the  registered  voting  population; 
in  Boston  it  is  nearly  15,000,  or  about  twelve  per  cent  of  the 
number  of  names  on  the  voting-list.  When  it  is  further 
borne  in  mind  that  municipal  employees  are  proverbially 
active  in  politics  and  rarely  fail  to  vote,  it  will  appear  that 
their  actual  political  strength,  numerically  considered,  may 
not  unfairly  be  estimated  at  from  one-sixth  to  one-ei^th 
of  the  whole  electorate.  Add  to  this  for  good  measure, 
moreover,  the  fact  that  they  always  have  relatives  and 
friends  whose  votes  thqr  greatly  influence.  This  massed 
political  strength,  direct  and  indirect,  gives  the  army  of 
officials  and  employees  what  virtually  constitutes  the  bal^ 
ance  of  power  in  most  of  the  larger  cities. 

Now,  the  task  of  getting  efficient  service  from  several 
thousand  employees  is  one  of  considerable  responsibility  and 
difficulty  in  even  the  best-organized  private  enterprise,  and 
makes  heavy  demands  upon  the  skill  of  those  who  have  the 
hiring  and  management  of  labor  in  ultimate  charge.  How 
much  greater,  then,  must  be  the  inherent  difficulty  in  a 
public  business  in  which  the  employees  are  also  shareholders, 
and  so  constitute  a  large  factor  in  selecting  those  who  de- 
termine the  conditions  of  their  employment  I  It  is,  indeed, 
from  the  simple  fact  that  municipal  employees  are  voters 
and  friends  of  voters  that  most  of  the  city's  most  serious 
labor  troubles  wise.  As  voters,  the  employees  are  in  a  posi- 
tion to  reward  with  political  support  those  elective  officers 
of  city  government  who  bend  readily  to  their  demands  as 
employers.  As  voters,  likewi?e,  they  have  power  to  penalize 
with  their  political  opposition  those  who  stand  firm  against 


MUNICIPAL  OFFICIALS  AND  EMPLOYEES         267 

.  inds  for  higher  pay,  fewer  hours  of  labor,  fraquent  holi- 
''ays,  and  lenient  rules  of  discipline.  As  a  political  faction 
they  have  interests  that  are,  more  often  than  otherwise, 
diametrically  opposed  to  the  best  interests  of  the  taxpayers 
as  a  whole.  Yet  there  can  be  no  serious  thought  of  dis- 
franchising municipal  emplot-^es  because  as  a  class  th^ 
seek  first  at  the  polls  what  h;'  are  to  be  their  own  personal 
welfare.  Were  the  policy  of  denying  the  franchise  to  all 
who  are  prone  to  use  it  selfishly  on  occasion  to  be  inaugu- 
rated, there  would  soon  be  very  few  names  on  the  voting- 
lists  of  some  cities.  In  their  attitude  toward  general  ques- 
tions of  municipal  policy,  the  men  on  the  city's  pay-roll  are 
no  more  apt  to  be  warped  by  personal  avarice  than  are  many 
other  elements  in  the  community.  The  chief  difference  is 
that  the  interests  of  the  latter,  not  being  matters  of  public 
record,  are  less  plainly  disclosed. 

It  has  now  come  to  be  well  recognised,  however,  that  Bow  the 
many  of  the  troubles  which  arise  from  the  ability  of  mu- 
nicipal employees  to  put  political  pressure  upon  the  elective 
organs  of  the  city  can  be  greatly  lessened  by  improvements 
in  the  framework  and  the  administrative  mechanism  of  city 
government.    The  simplification  of  governing  apparatus 
by  the  substitution  of  a  small  one-chambered  council  for 
the  bicameral  system  now  in  vogue  in  many  cities,  the 
lengthening  of  the  mayor's  term  and  the  increase  in  the 
scope  of  his  appointing  power,  improved  methods  of  nomi- 
nation, the  short  baUot  without  party  designations,  —  these 
are  some  of  the  organic  changes  that  serve  to  diminish  the 
sinister  pressure  which  can  be  put  upon  the  elected  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people.    BusinessUke  organization  of  the 
various  administrative  departments,  efficient  methods  of 
selecting  department  heads,  the  subdivision  of  work  within 
departments  so  that  each  official  shaU  have  his  own  definite 
work  and  be  directly  responsible  for  it,  the  poUcy  of  appoint- 


Miatinc 
iitu«tk« 
can  be 
imimoTvd. 


268 


OOVBBNMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIB8 


The  theory 
•ad  praotlee 
of  deixMt- 
mental 
organiia. 

tiOB. 


ing  aU  officials  (other  than  department  heada)  by  well-ordered 
competitive  tests,  due  protection  against  wrongful  removals, 
standing  rules  of  discipline  impartially  appUed  to  all,  a 
system  of  superannuation  or  retiring  al'swances  for  aged 
officials  and  employees,  —  these  are  t.  ..  of  the  purely  ad- 
ministrative changes  that  would  operate  to  the  same  end. 
Some  of  these  organic  changes  have  been  suggested  in  pre- 
vious chapters;  but,  to  secure  the  best  results,  most  cities 
must  make  a  good  many  intra-departmental  improvements 
as  well. 

Given  a  proper  distribution  of  the  city's  business  among 
the  departments  as  already  outlined,*  there  must  stiU  be 
provided  such  an  internal  organization  in  each  department 
as  will  injure  cordial  cooperation  among  its  various  divi- 
sions and  among  officials  in  the  same  division.    It  is  of 
course  true  that  in  most  cities  the  organization  of  each  ad- 
ministrative department  is  already  based  ostensibly  upon 
the  principle  of  making  aU  responsibility  converge  in  the 
department  head.    The  deputy  head  of  a  division  or  bures- 
is  directly  under  the  orders  of  those  above  him,  and  he  in 
turn  gi/es  orders  to  those  within  his  control.    From  the 
head  of  the  department  to  the  minor  employees  there  ahnost 
always  appears,  at  least  on  paper,  a  hierarchy  of  responsi- 
bility.   In  practice,  however,  this  chain  of  responsibiUty 
is  often  badly  broken.    Subordinates  who  have  political  or 
T)erBonal  influence  do  not  hesitate  to  put  their  reliance  upon 
tne  support;  of  men  above  their  own  immediate  chiefs ;  hence 
It  not  infrequently  happens  that  a  department  contains 
many  men  who  are  subordinates  on?y  in  name.    The  head 
of  the  department  knows  that  these  can  practicaUy  set  him 
at  naught  by  going  over  his  head  to  the  mayor  or  the  coun- 
cil, if  occasion  demands.    By  the  reinstatement  of  officials 
who  have  been  discharged  for  good  reason,  the  transfer  of 
•Above,  pp.  250-252. 


MX7NICIPAL  OFFICIALS  AND  IMPL0TU8         269 

subordinates  from  Btriot  to  lenient  superiora,  the  granting 
of  requests  for  increased  remuneration  without  consultation 
with  department  heads,  —  these  are  but  a  few  of  the  ways 
m  which  officials  who  ostensibly  have  final  authority  in  such 
matters  find  themselves  overruled  from  aUve.    Political 
exigencies  and  a  desire  to  retain  their  positions  have  impelled 
many  departm  nt  heads  to  accept  this  situation  and  to  tol- 
erate Its  contmuance  year  after  year,  although  the  veriest 
tyro  m  the  municipal  service  knows  how  utterly  demoralising 
It  IS  to  the  maintenance  of  discipline  in  the  ranks. 

Carrjong  the  process  a  step  farther,  one  finds  the  same  THepdw- 
mdependence  of  immediate  authority  among  the  minor  !:"*!!T» 
employees.    Not  as  individuals  can  these  ordinary  em-  ^ 
ployees  venture  successfully  to  defy  the  orders  of  their  offi- 
ml  superiors,  b^t  as  groups  they  can,  and  frequently  do. 
Rarely  is  the  issue  between  offical  and  employees  raised  in 

such  a  way  as  to  touch  only  one  or  two  of  the  Utter.    A^ 
most-  invariably  employees  are  affected  as  a  cUss,  or  they 
think  they  are.    In  such  cases,  despite  the  theory  that  the 
department  head  is  responsible  for  the  settlement  of  mooted 
questions  within  his  own  field,  an  appeal  can  almost  always 
be  taken  to  the  mayor  or  to  the  city  council.    The  coun- 
cilmen,  approaching  the  matter  in  the  light  of  the  effect 
which  a  decision  is  likely  to  have  on  their  own  poUtical 
fortunes,  are  naturally  disposed  to  grant  demands  made  by 
bodi^  of  employees,  even  when  such  action  involves  a  dirert 
rebuff  to  the  officials  immediately  concerned.    Differences 
between  employer  and  employees  necessarily  arise  in  pubUc 
as  m  pnvate,  management;  but  concessions  to  the  wajre^ 
earner  are  much  more  easily  wrested  in  the  pubUc  ser^e. 
Uty  employees  are  weU  aware  of  the  political  influence  which 
they  can  exert,  and  they  rarely  fail  to  make  it  do  full  duty. 
1 0  render  it  the  more  effective,  the  employees  of  various  mu- 
nicipal  departments  in  the  hirger  cities  have  organized  them- 


'M 


270 


GOVSRNMXNT  OF  AMERICAN  CTTIBS 


^4 


Inferior 

qu«Uty<rf 

•nuni'-iiwl 


selvw  into  aasociations  which  ... e  to  all  intents  and  purpo«ei 
labor  unions,  although  they  do  not  bear  the  name  and  are 
not  usually  affiliated  with  the  regular  Ubor  federations. 
Often  they  take  the  guise  of  benefit  associations,  or  even 
of  social  clubs  maintaining  benefit  funds  and  dub-rooms. 
The  money  needed  to  cany  on  these  organisations  is  in 
part  secured  by  the  levy  of  assessments  upon  members,  out 
generally,  in  krger  part,  by  the  holding  of  a  policemen's 
ball,  or  a  firemen's  tournament,  or  some  similar  money-nuik- 
ing  affair  in  social  guise.  Such  functions  are  made  the  occa- 
sion of  a  general  levy  upon  the  public  through  the  sale  of 
tickets  by  policemen,  firemen,  and  others  to  persons  whom 
they  are  supposed  to  serve  and  protect.  The  whole  prac- 
tice is  a  trivial,  but  none  the  less  reprehensible,  form  of  petty 
blackmail.  Fraternal  or  social  in  outward  appearance,  these 
organizations  are  for  the  most  part  nothing  but  machines 
for  putting  political  pressure  where  it  will  avail  most  in  the 
interest  of  members.  Thus  does  the  public,  as  usual,  pay 
its  way  both  coming  and  going.  The  taxpayers  of  cities 
yield  the  contributions  which  in  their  turn  give  the  employ- 
ees of  the  city  added  strength  in  pressing  their  frequent  de- 
mands for  new  concessions  at  the  public  expense. 

But  while  the  absence  of  businesslike  adjustment  among 
departments,  and  the  presence  of  friction,  insubordination, 
and  poUtical  pressure  within  individual  departments  them- 
selves, have  all  militated  against  efficiency  in  the  municipal 
service,  a  much  greater  obstacle  to  satisfactory  results  is 
to  be  found  in  the  quality  of  the  labor,  skilled  and  unskiUed, 
which  usually  gains  a  place  on  the  city's  pay-roll.  In  the 
absence  of  strict  rules  relating  to  the  selection  of  officials 
and  employees  by  competitive  tests,  appointments  to  all 
places  in  the  administrative  service  of  the  city  are  almost 
certain  to  be  regarded  as  the  legitimate  patronage  of  the 
party  in  power.    Save  in  the  case  of  purely  technical  posi- 


ii 


MDNion-Ai  omouia  jmd  luvLonn      azi 

of  «lv«t»tog  for  .ppUMtio™,  «  common  inZ  ^^ 
E-m,pe  u,  .toort  unIa»wB  in  Am«ic..  A.  S^Tmt 
mcpl  ,„b  b^ome.  v«.nt, ,  l^  of  MpiranC^r^^ 
by  lu.  fmnd.,  com.  ton,«i  to  p«.  thd,  cWm.  ap»  S. 
m.yor  or  th.  wuncil  or  th,  h««l  of  th.  d».rtm«S^  Z. 
cUun.  b««,  upon  .p«i.l  «„«.  „  «toiSZ\xp^ 

th«e  but  cl«m.  to  r«r«l  to,  party  «nic  Md  prof«riom 
of  future  pol.f«U  «lu.  to  th.  «lmin»tr.tion.  ^ZZ 
.dmumtrativ.  «nnc  of  mort  cit».  b«»m«>  cIomJ^^ 
men  who  Uv.  fiUW  to  miU»  „y  h«^„y  ^  ^..^ 
c.tK>n,,  „d  who  .«t«nly  un  do  no  b«t.J  in  ^C^ 
cu.hn^  «.™«m«,t  of  pubUo  officholding.  M^^ 
«,e  mo^  me«oc«  .tt.inm«t.  in  «,,in«rinruw,  Zmt 

puttmg  th«n«l«,  mto  municipal  port,  of  Urn  ^JZ 
•ahMytoT  which  th,  high«t  P«iiTpr„fJJjrS 

p.yeB  of  AmencM,  ctie,  h.™  been  mulct«i  heavily  through 

naq^  sMl  ud  mtelhgenc  in  th,  handling  of  imoortant 
matter,  intrurted  to  them.  miportant 

Pereomu  rapwrmon  to  everything  within  hi.  iuri«iiction   *»~^ 
^.t  would  b.  a  phyrical  impo^biUty.    For  LT^'n  SST""^ 

and  knowledge  in  his  own  branch  of  work     Th««  +1,-  i      i 
ad™,  which  i.  tendered  to  the  .^^and  ^rnoflmt^ 

eounMl  or  the  cty  «,hcitor  U  in  mort  ca«.  bawd  uixm  an  m. 
•nunauon  of  .tatute.,  ordinance,,  orpreced^^^b^^^ 


272 


GOVIRMMIMT  OP  AMISIOIN  CITII8 


MunidiMl 
•nd  private 
UboreS- 
dmey  eon- 


Mtiitant  wlicitor  or  by  othen  in  his  office.  It  ii  upon  the 
diligence  and  intelligence  of  thew  Utter,  MooitUngly,  that 
the  legality  or  illegaUty  of  whatever  action  the  dty  may 
take  on  many  matters  wiU  largely  depend.  So  in  the  de- 
partment of  public  works.  Spedfioationa  and  contracts 
must  usually  have  the  approval  of  the  department  head; 
but  the  actual  work  of  drafting  them  is  intrusted  to  some 
subordinate,  commonly  an  engineer,  who  submits  his  drafts 
to  the  law  department  for  its  approval.  After  th^  are  put 
into  preliminary  shape,  these  documents  seem  rarely  to 
obtain  more  than  a  perfunctory  scrutiny  from  any  higher 
authority;  so  that  the  interests  of  the  city  have  in  reality 
been  intrusted  entirely  to  subordinates.  Other  departments 
of  the  city's  service  furnish  similar  examples.  Professional 
skill  and  expertness  are  thus  even  more  imperative  for  the 
men  who  do  the  preliminary  work,  than  for  department  heads 
who  carry  the  technical  responsibility.  Yet  these  are  the 
branches  of  the  city's  service  where  professional  expertness 
is  least  often  foimd. 

Rank  for  rank,  the  municipal  departments  compare  un- 
favorably with  private  business  organisations  in  the  quality 
of  the  work  performed  by  their  respective  staffs.    For  the 
same  salary  the  city  ahnost  invariably  procures  skill  of  an 
inferior  grade  and  diligence  of  inferior  degree.    That  is  why, 
in  its  deaUngs  with  private  corporations  and  even  with  in- 
dividuab,  the  municipality  has  usuaUy  found  itself  saddled 
with  the  short  end  of  the  bargain.    It  is  outmatched  in 
skiU,  intelligence,  tact,  and  loyalty.    To  offset  this  handicap, 
for  which  the  city  has  only  itself  to  blame,  municipal  offi- 
cers frequently  resort  to  unfairness  in  dealing  with  private 
concerns.    They  are  very  apt  to  ignore  the  principle  that 
parties  to  an  agreement  are  to  be  deemed  equal  and  are 
entitled  to  equal  consideration.     The  city,  in  its  agree- 
ments wi  a  public-service  corporations  or  contractors,  often 


MDNioiPAL  omoure  jmo  umonn      m 

tadttnn  at  dl  poiiito  to  wain  taau  tktt  mt  tk.  i... 
~n.plrt.ly  .t  th.  ««,  rf  it.  oT^  T^^^ 
which  i.  H^t  f  b.  p™d«t  fa  th..Tt^tr^"°" 

for  th.  mcopMity  of  it.  own  tnt..    Q,,  .JJ^fS^ 

*.ll  then  ,  d^id.  dl  pofai,  01  digpJU  .SLll!i2^ 
the  muoiapdity  .ad  wmtrMto*'  tSo  r-rfTS  ^TT^ 
tho«  who  d«l  wia.  th.  dtr  Uk.  fato^lZlh.  ,^*uf 

tioM  put  upoD  thorn  br  o(Bci«li  who-^.^™  ^T^ 

tap«tidi.y.  A...Hfa^,c-t"Cirj::;^^ 

th.  offi«d,  to  whom  th,  right  of  d«MfagZ^1r^ 
dlotl«i  by  th,  toma  of  oity  xMnct^^ZT^^ 

■wt  the  ^pooaibi,,.,  f^^sr^i."::^^:: 

by  i.r„tn  „;,..l°'  ""^  "-'  -"*' «»  -"  ^-^^ 

!*>">>»«»•»..       *-«^t?;;^rS:°~^-    •""•""Ml. 
«««»  '«ttCjtX'^'2ir."«' 5r^ "" •'•""h.liSS 


■■■■■■■■■I 


«Hi 


374 


OOVIRNMINT  OF  AMBIUCAN  CITIBS 


ThaMMlol 


h 


Now,  the  entire  eoet  of  this  offleUl  ineompeteney  whieh  b 
10  ele  jtiy  shielded  from  the  publie  wnth  by  a  penietent 
evadon  of  reapondbilit*^  ie  aomethinc  that  can  be  neither 
accurately  estimated  nor  adequately  deseribed.    One  of 
the  best  municipal  accountants  in  the  United  States  hat 
endeavored  to  figure  up,  in  a  general  way,  the  proportion 
of  New  York's  municipal  income  that  is  annually  wasted 
through  official  incapacity  and  inattention  to  duty.    He 
estimates  that  in  the  pay-roll  alone  112,000,000  is  about  the 
price  paid  annually  by  the  metropolis  for  collusion,  in- 
efficlepcy,  and  idleness  in  the  various  municipal  departments.* 
Nor  ioes  this  represent  even  the  greater  part  of  the  enl''- 
waste.    The  city  of  New  York  spends  each  year  abon 
$15,000,000  for  supplies  and  materials ;  but,  though  it  buys 
in  very  large  quantities,  it  has  received,  as  a  rule,  neither 
wholesale  rales  nor  cash  discounts.    In  considerable  measure 
this  is  due  to  a  lack  of  proper  purchasing  methods,  but 
in  larger  degree  it  results  from  the  totbl  failure  of  the  city 
to  secure  the  type  of  Eervant  who  will  guard  the  financial 
interests  of  his  master  as  his  own. 
Mott  ^  the       Unquestionably,  the  root  of  this  trouble  lies  in  the  manner 
from  inferior  Of  selecting  most  of  those  who  are  taken  into  the  service  of 
JJSS."'    the  various  municipal  departments,  and  the  remedy  can 
accordingly  be  found  in  a  vadical  alterat;  ,  of  these  methods. 
The  appointment  of  subordinate  officL       whether  by  the 
mayor  or  by  the  council  or  by  the  heads  of  departments  at 
their  entire  discretion,  results  almost  invariably,  and  in- 
deed, one  may  say,  alic  ...t  inevitu  Mj ,  in  the  purely  paUisan 
selection  of  men  who  havj  no  tangible  qualifications  for  the 
work  which  they  are  expected  to  do.    The  experience  of 
American  cities  on  this  point  has  been  far  too  extensive  to 
leave  any  doubt  in  the  matter ;  no  other  maxim  of  municipal 

>  P.  A.  aeveland.  Munieipai  Adminittration  and  AeemtnHng  (New 
York,  1909),  28-29. 


MUNICIPAL  OfnCULS  AND  IMPLOTUS         275 

science  cm  dnw  mim  evidenoe  to  itt  rapport.    Since,  then, 
entire  dikoretion  in  the  matter  of  eeleoting  omcialg  hM  al- 
most  always  been  abuwd  when  ipven  to  theie  authorities,  The 
there  seems  to  be  no  satiifaetoiy  alkmative  other  than  to 
talce  the  discretion  away.    To  do  so  iK  not  in  t  ij  way  to  im- 
pair th?  full  responaibiUty  either  of  the  elective  branches  of 
the  city  government  or  of  the  department  heads.    Subordi- 
nate officials  are  not  policy-determining  factors.    Their 
work  Ues  within  the  plans  mapped  out  for  them  by  others. 
Skill  and  diligence  in  carrying  out  their  instructions  are  the 
chief  quaUties  demanded  of  them.    The  broader  adminis- 
trative qualifications  so  desirable  in  heads  of  departments 
are  not  essential  in  the  case  of  their  subordinates.    Hence 
it  is  that  practicaUy  aU  municipal  administrative  posts 
other  than  headships  of  departments  may  very  property, 
and,  as  experience  proves,  may  with  exoeUent  nsults,  be 
fiUed  by  men  who  have  been  selected  through  the  agency 
of  some  competitive  test. 

This  system  of  appointment  by  competitive  test  is  in  its  The  m«tt 
broader  application  conunonly  known  as  the  civil-eervice  'tS"' 
examination.    Fust  tried  in  the  national  administration   ^^^ 
which  derived  it  from  England,  this  method  of  selecting  ■'''**^ 
administrative  officials  has  made  its  way  into  several  of 
the  states,  and  finaUy  into  a  number  of  cities.*    At  present 
It  is  the  method  of  choosing  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  officials  in  aU  the  cities  of  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Massa- 
chusetts, and  in  certain  cities  of  Pennsylvania ;  it  has  also 
been  adopted  for  the  selection  of  officiab  in  the  police  and 
fire  departments  of  various  municipalities  in  Wisconsin  and 
Illinois.    In  a  good  many  others,  chiefly  those  which  have 

D  n"°F*^*  "^*?T  f  ^  "y^"  ^ '""  **•  •PP««»o«  fa»  America,  we 
li.  B.  Eaton,  Cunl  Service  in  Great  Britain  (New  York,  1880).  The  hi*. 
«wy  or  the  ayitem  in  the  United  States  ii  traced  by  C.  R.  Piih.  CMl 
ismtee  and  the  Patronage  (New  York,  1906). 


lih 


276 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


i  ' 


Theaimsof 
•  civil-Mr- 
vioeajnitein. 


adopted  the  commission  plan  of  government,  it  has  been  ap- 
plied to  subordinate  posts  in  all  or  most  of  the  municipal  de- 
partments; and  the  same  is  true  of  cities  like  Seattle,  San 
Francisco,  New  Haven,  Los  Angeles,  Kansas  City,  Memphis, 
and  Detroit,  which  have  in  recent  years  adopted  charters 
of  other  types.*  During  the  last  decade  the  extension  of 
the  competitive  system  has  been  rapid,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  expect,  from  the  present  trend  of  public  opinion, 
that  its  spread  in  the  next  few  years  will  be  at  an  even 
greater  pace.* 

Stated  briefly,  the  purposes  of  a  well-ordered  civil-flervice 
system  are  both  preventive  and  positive.    In  the  first  place, 
it  is  a  system  which  aims  to  prevent  those  who  have  authority 
to  appoint  municipal  officials  from  using  this  authority  to  pay 
political  debts.    It  aims  to  remove  from  the  category  of  par- 
tisan spoils  the  administrative  offices  of  the  city.    In  the 
second  place,  it  seeks  to  provide  an  agency  whereby  properly 
qualified  officials  can  be  secured  for  these  posts  whenever  they 
are  wanted.    This  it  does  by  estabUshing  and  conducting, 
periodicaUy,  open  competitions  designed  to  test  the  qualifi- 
cations of  aU  who  apply.    These  competitions,  besides  being 
open,  under  certain  reasonable  limitations,  to  all  who  wish 
to  enter,  are  advertised  beforehand  and   are   conducted 
publicly  with  aU  necessary  safeguards  for  honesty  and  fair- 
ness.   The  tests,  whether  mental,  physical,  or  both,  are 
adapted  to  the  duties  of  the  office  which  is  to  be  fiUed.    The 
system  rests,  in  a  word,  upon  three  propositions,— namely, 
that  every  administrative  office  demands  certain  qualifica- 
tions, that  the  office  should  go  to  him  who  is  best  fitted  to 
fill  it,  and  that  the  fairest  way  to  discover  such  individual 


MUNICIPAL  omoiAU  AND  JMPLOTltlB         277 

"  *°  "tablMi  Ml  open  competitioa.    -n,.  .i,-  .  , 

of  tho«  who  h.«  the  civilJClt.^m  t     ""'*'"' 

of  political  pKMure  in  the  iBte«.r .       !??  *°  "^°«"'« 

Th.^  methods  0,  .p^x^r.!:^^::  t  °««- 

In  some  cities    as    f«-  -         ,     -ufuonu^i  are  m  vogue. 

ch-ca^,  t  "^^ttT^fr^^fh"'  "^ 

a  civil-service  commiasiou  aDnointLT  .u  '^'^^  °^ 

is  a  plan  which,  th^  it  St^^''  the  mayor.^    This 

or  no  justification  eitSr  inTn„     ,    "'^  ''^^'  ^^  "*«« 

principle  it  is  anon^o^    W        ^      "'  ^  ^'^'^''    ^ 

appointment  and  ^^^  oMw"7''  "'^"'^  ^^«  *^« 

to  keep  PatronageT'r^Ll^'^j;'^!^^^^  ^''^^^^  ^ 

been  found  that  a  civil^ndcnomr*-        ^'*'*''^  ^*  ^'^ 

mayor  is  little  morliZTtr^^     Z''^^^''^  ^^'^^ 

fying  poUtical  patr^nl  w^^^^^^         '^T''''  ^°'  '"«^- 

the  right  sort  of  mavofiTlffl  r^  °^ '^^°™-    ^ith 

allowed  to  Ur:Tz:^7X':T:^'i^^ 

l^all.    Inothe^r,?ttw"t:*"^^ 

needed.  ^*  *^®*'''^®  '^'len  it  is  most 

v::.T^.tttr^r,'s,^«-^<«e.o,Ne. 

The  PhiladdphUi  oommiadon  eoMJ«t.  ^  ♦v-^- 
he  mayor  for  .  term  of  Z^,^^o^,**f*«  "T^"  "^^^^  »»y 
the  same  political  nmrtv  trl^^^        "*  *"*»  *^  o'  them  to  be  fmm 

Chicago  th^.^uSri.S:;oi;z±':rK  t-  ^p-  «^^^  ^ 

year  term,  one  retiring  imS^^SS^^f  «>y  «»•  mayor  for  •  three- 
New  Orleana  the  civilHi^«-^  i«*n»ed  Statute  of  lUinou,  ch.  24)      Tn 

comptroller,  and  th°^r2Zrrril\°^t "''  °'  "'^^^  t£ 
"PPomted  by  the  n^^  it!:^^^^  ^^^  ;^  two  membe,: 


Method*  nf 
eoutituting 
oivil-iervice 
ooniiiiis. 


1-  The 

Philadel* 

phiapian. 


^  The  New 


■Hiiiillftawiaa 


278 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


3.  The 
Massachu- 
8>  tu  pUn. 


these  municipal  boards  shaU  do  their  work  subject  to  the 
supervision  of  a  state  civil-service  commission  appointed  by 
the  governor.    This  latter  body  has  authority  to  remove, 
when  necessary,  any  members  of  municipal  civil-service 
commissions  who  prove  remiss  in  the  performance  of  their 
duties,  and  to  appoint  the  successors  of  those  who  may  be  so 
removed.    The  New  York  plan  aims  to  combine  local  admin- 
istration of  the  civil-sersrice  system  with  such  central  super- 
vision as  is  necessary  to  prevent  abuses ;  and  as  a  general 
principle  of  popular  government  this  policy  is  sound  enough. 
More  emphasis,  however,  has  been  laid  upon  the  local  than 
upon  the  central  features  of  the  system,  with  the  result  that 
state  supervision  has  not  been  sufficiently  comprehensive 
or  strict  to  prevent  a  lax  administration  of  the  civil-service 
rules  in  the  interest  of  those  who  have  purely  poUtical  ends  to 
serve.    Undue  leniency  toward  evasions  of  the  law  by  local 
commissions  has  greatly  impaired  the  safeguards  which  the 
system  potentially  offers  in  every  city  of  the  state. 

The  third  plan  is  that  which  has  been  in  operation  since 
1884  in  the  cities  of  Massachusetts.    The  thirty-three  cities 
of  this  state  have  no  municipal  civil-service  commissions,  but 
come  directly  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  state  board  made 
up  of  three  members  appointed  by  the  governor.   This  central 
commission  prescribes  the  tests,  conducts  them,  and  certifies 
the  results  to  the  cities.    When  any  municipal  post  within  the 
classified  service  is  to  be  fiUed  by  appointment,  the  state 
commission  is  asked  by  the  city  authorities  to  send  down  the 
names  of  those  who  have  stood  highest  at  the  tests.    If  there 
are  none  who  have  already  quaUfied,  a  competition  is  an- 
nounced and  candidates  are  caUed  for.    It  wUl,  of  course,  be 
urged  that  this  system  is  an  infringement  upon  the  principle 
of  municipal  home  rule,  and  it  doubtless  is  so  if  by  municipal 
autonomy  one  impUes  a  denial  of  the  state's  right  to  secure 
the  impartial  enforcement  of  its  own  laws.    But  whatever 


MUNICIPAL  OFFICIALS  AND  EMPLOYEES  279 

affront  it  may  give  to  the  shibboleths  of  poKticians   the 
Massachusetts  system  does  possess,  in  actual  operation',  the 
substantial  ment  of  being  effective.    It  removesVhe  ad^  ru  n^ 
tration  of  the  civil-service  system  from  the  influence^Tl^ 

TmZ^'^Tf^''r  ^°'  ^^^^y  can  the  appointing 
officers  of  cities  bnng  sinister  pressure  to  bear  on  the  state 

r2T  n  \  "  7"°"""^'  ^"  *^**  ''  P---*«  that  dt 
pication  of  local  and  central  effort  which  characterizes  the 
administration  of  the  system  in  New  York.  As  migM  be 
expected,  the  professional  pohticians  of  Massachusetts  pi^ 
claim  peremiiaUy  that  the  whole  system  is  "undemocratic^ 
and  they  are  perhaps  consistent  in  raising  this  cry  fo^ 
their  defimtion  of  democracy  asserts  that  aU  men  are^u^ 
and  any  orm  of  fair  competition  is  sure  to  prove  thatTm^ 
men  are  mferior.  ® 

Where,  as  in  Massachusetts,  the  merit  system  has  been  ^,^^ 
put  to  fair  trial,  with  its  administration  in^ed  to  m^^  S^^ 
who  have  both  the  will  and  the  power  to  perform  their  fun^  "^ 
t  ons  without  fear  or  favor,  there  is  no  serious  question  as  tt 
It.  substantial  achievements.    To  obtain  t^^trp^fs 
of  this,  one  need  only  compare  the  personneTfnd  wor^ 
those  mumcipal  departments  which  are  under  civO-^r^ce 
regulations  with  those  which  are  not.    The  resul  W  ^ch 

compai^j^  wherever  they  havebeen  made,  aresodli^d^ 
m  favor  of  the  fonner  method  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that^e 
ment  system  is  one  of  the  most  dependable  of  aU  the  agend« 
that  help  the  city  to  get  a  day's  work  for  a  dlyT  pa^ 

before  and  after  bemg  put  under  merit-system  rules  leads  to 

appointed  authSL  tS^X^^  iSr°  "^  *?'  °*^*  "^^"^  *^  «*•*»• 
local  cause,.  SSSSriy^CS'tlTt^ir"''""**'  ^  '«««^  «»»•  to 
wealth  have  mStSnId  J^JtII^^!:  ^\  ^  Vmnon  of  the  oommon. 
ments.  °^*^«»  tood  tnditKni  in  the  nutter  of  state  n^^ 


280 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIBS 


■ervioe 
form. 


exactly  the  same  conclusion.  Such  comparisons  are,  to  be 
sure,  not  always  easy  to  make,  for  the  reason  that  the  intro- 
duction of  civil-service  regulations  is  often  accompanied  by  a 
change  in  the  general  structure  of  city  government,  or  by  a 
reorganization  of  administrative  departments.  In  either  of 
these  events  it  becomes  nearly  impossible  to  tell  how  much 
improvement  is  due  to  one  or  other  of  the  various  changes 
made.  But  the  instances  in  which  the  merit  system  has 
been  put  into  operation  without  other  organic  changes  are 
sufficiently  nimierous  to  warrant  the  conviction  that,  even 
of  itself,  the  plan  can  be  made  the  agency  of  marked  im- 
provement.^ 
Objeotiou  Various  objections  have  been  urged  against  the  extension 
apSnatcivfl-  o^  t^®  civil-seivice  sjrstem  to  all  city  officiald  and  ipluyees 
other  than  heads  of  departments.  Some  of  these  objections 
rest  upon  misunderstandings  as  to  the  way  in  which  the 
^system  is  administered;  others  arise  from  the  occasional 
failure  of  civil-service  authorities  to  apply  their  rules  with 
either  judgment  or  tact ;  and  ethers,  again,  are  objections  of 
more  or  less  validity,  which  apply  not  only  to  civil-service 
tests,  but  to  all  methods  of  selection  based  upon  open  cot:^- 
petition. 

In  the  first  place,  the  system  of  dvil-eervice  a^.  pointments 
to  posts  in  the  municipal  service  seems  to  be  inseparably  as- 
sociated in  the  public  mind  with  the  idea  of  written  examina- 
tions designed  to  test  solely  the  intellectual  qualities  of 
candidates,  and  conducted  in  academic  fashion.  For  the 
propagation  of  this  popular  notion  civil-service  examiners 
have  to  a  considerable  extent  been  responsible.  In  the  earlier 
days  of  civil-service  reform,  and  indeed  even  yet  in  many 
jurisdictions,  the  tests  applied  have  been  too  narrow.  Th( 
have  laid  too  much  stress  upon  examinations  in  elemental. 


1.  TMto 

•Ueiedto 

beunmit- 


>  For  example,  see  the  ■nimnary  of  reralts  in  Khuu  City,  in  Anmicm 
PolUieal  Science  Bepiew,  VI.  91  (Febnuury,  1912). 


MUNICIPAL  0PPICIAL8  AND  EMPLOYEES  281 

composition,  arithmetic,  and  history,  and  too  little  upon  those 
that  relate  directly  to  the  work  which  the  official  will  have  to 
perform.    Those  of  us  who  have  much  to  do  with  academic 
exammations,  in  the  way  both  of  selecting  questions  and  cf 
readmg  answers,  are  all  too  weU  aware  of  the  fact  that  such 
tests  afford  at  best  a  very  inadequate  and  undependable 
means  whereby  to  gauge  the  real  quaUty  of  a  young  man's 
mmd  or  even  to  measure  the  extent  of  his  information.   CivU- 
service  authorities  at  the  outset,  put  too  much  faith  in  con- 
clusions deduced  from  formal  written  tests  upon  matters 
which  are  supposed  to  be  part  of  an  elementary  education. 
By  so  domg  they  brought  upon  the  whole  system  much 
criticism  that  might  easily  have  been  avoided. 

But  civil-service  tests  are  not  now  whoUy  of  this  nature 
and  not  even  largely  so  when  the  system  is  prudently  admin- 
istered.'   Physical  examinations,  tests  designed  to  uncover 
a  candidate's  knowledge  of  the  specific  duties  which  he  will 
be  caUed  upon  to  perform,  questions  framed  to  dispUy  his 
soundness  of  judgment  and  powers  of  initiative,  require- 
ments that  candidates  shaU  present  testimonials  from  former 
employers, -all  these  things  form  essential  features  of 
competitions  that  are  wisely  nuw^ed.    When  the  office  to 
be  filled  is  technical  or  speciaUzed  in  its  duties  (as  the 
post  of  draughtsman,  analyst,  milk  inspector,  ambuhmce 
surgeon,  or  bookkeeper),  the  planning  and  appUcation  of 
appropriate  tests  present  no  very  difficult  problems.    But 
when  the  duties  attaching  to  the  office  are  of  a  non-technical 
or  general  nature,  for  which  an  appUcant  cannot  ordinarily 
equip  himself  by  any  form  of  professional  training,  the  per- 
plexities become  much  greater ;  and  it  is,  unfortunately,  into 

•  Some  McceUent  apeoimeu  of  the  right  type  of  oivU-wvioe  eiamiiu. 

uon  questions  may  be  found  in  the  Cinl  Service  Text  Book  (1910-191lT 

^uedbytheoi^ofChiceo.    A.  .Uted  in  the  prrf««.  one  o^^Zi^^ 

£»r^^.*^  ^^  w«  "to  divel  the  mistaken  ide.  that  l^^ 
nona  oonsut  of  ««>dfimiq  teett."  nn- 


Tlie  objec- 
tion doe*  not 
bold  vitUd 
when  the 
■sntonia 
wiMiy 

teied. 


Diffleohiee 

involved  i& 

teetiac 

tmeral 

qiuUiflee- 

tiona. 


mm 


282 


OOVBRNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


\l. 


!■ 


this  latter  category  that  most  subordinate  municipal  positions 
happen  to  fall.  Take,  for  example,  the  post  of  patrolman. 
Its  duties  cannot  be  learned  througl.  any  of  the  ordinary 
channels  of  instruction  or  apprenticeship,  and  the  qualities 
that  insure  the  satisfactory  performance  of  these  duties  are 
much  easier  to  define  than  to  discover.  Personal  courage, 
integrity,  taccfulness,  and  a  level  head  as  well  as  intelligence 
seem  to  be  the  essential  quahties  of  an  efficient  poUce  officer ; 
they  are  obviously  more  important  than  proficiency  in  pen- 
manship, geography,  or  arithmetic.  A  rigid  physical  ex- 
amination is  a  great  help  to  the  examiners,  for  it  is  almost 
a  truism  that  bodily  vigor  goes  with  a  clean  mind  and 
good  morals.  Yet  it  can  hardly  be  urged  that  any  series 
of  formal  tests  will  disclose  with  certainty  ^he  particuk. 
candidates  who  possess  these  important  qualities  in  the 
highest  degree.  In  spite  of  all  this,  however,  the  civil- 
service  authorities  of  some  cities  have  been  remarkably 
successful  in  adapting  the  tests  to  the  ends  in  view.*  When 
the  qualifications  desired  of  an  appointee  can  be  clearly  as- 
certained and  sufficient  study  can  be  given  to  the  planning  of 
the  tests,  the  examination  can  be  made  to  serve,  not  pterhaps 
as  an  unfailing  means  of  choosing  the  best  qualified  among 
a  list  of  candidates,  but  as  a  tolerably  safe  method  of  selec- 
tion.* Even  at  its  worst  it  is  superior  in  this  respect  to  the 
spoils  system  at  its  best. 


t  This  is  frequently  done  ly  oalling  to  the  msnatuiee  of  the  legnlar 
exunining  authorities  outside  experts,  who  help  to  plak  the  competition, 
select  the  tests,  and  pass  judgment  on  the  results.  This  procedure  has 
been  frequently  used,  during  recent  yean,  in  New  Twk,  Chicago,  Boston, 
Kansas  City,  and  elsewhere. 

*  F«r  the  selection  of  ordinary  unskilled  labor  no  formal  tests  are  com- 
monly used.  The  usual  plan  is  to  provide  a  waiting>-list,  upon  which  are 
enrolled  the  names  of  all  those  who  are  seeking  places  in  the  city's  labw 
force.  Men  are  certified  from  this  list  in  order  of  their  application,  pref- 
erence bong  usuaUy  given  to  veterans  of  the  Civil  War  and  to  those  who 
have  families  depending  upon  them  for  support.    It  would  seem  as  'f  a 


MUNICIPAL  OFFICIALS  AND  EMPLOYBM  283 

No  method  of  appointment  wiU  ever  prove  to  h«  .„ 

hands  the^  m'Tbe  andThSf  tht"'""^-  ^"^^ 
the  spirit  and  idealBoa^lnrnl,..*"  "°"*~"^  ^ 
rapid  headway  to  a  hola^rl  Iv""^  '""  "'•^^^^^ 
principles  of  cfvilJr^ce   "Z,  *^f  ^"^'^^  '°^^^"''«-    The 

selves,  have  somelTrj  b^^'T^trf  '  ^ '  "^  *'^"»- 
guidance  of  men  whose  Zl        ^  <>P««»tion  under  the 

adoption  of  ot^^rThri^^f^rmb  w""  ''^''''^  *^« 
ill-adapted  to  the  occ^i^      I?     ?    *^'  ^'^y  ^^''^. 

'aith  i^  the  ;:^t°^rara  :hri:et^  ^r° 

comings  are  mcidental.  however   «!'  •  u         ^^"^  '*°'*- 

usuaUy  be  remedied  bvJh.'       *  "*®'*^*'  ^'^^y  «»ay 
J-  uc  remeaied  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  naf  {«»«<>     v 

by  year  the  methods  of  examination  !^  "*^*  P**^«"««-  Year 
stress  has  been  laid  UDon  T  ' '"'P"'^*^ '  "^^^ 

penence  of  cand^SatesTL  ^  T^^^^?  '"^""^  «"<»  ^- 
are  nowadays  cat^fui^^  L^teTLdL^^.f  Tf"'"^ 
ten.  is  being  vastly  bLr  ^t^^St^  '^^l^^^!  ^ 
a  decade  or  two  ago.  w>^ay  than  it  was 

physical  examiaatioii  of  At  i— ♦       j  ' 

«nce  much  of  the  oity-J  So^f^te!^^""^^"^ •»»«««. "PeoUHy 
^~m  the  fact  that  to^i^U^  S!^  ^k  doM  .t  fidr  oort'32 

•^nnssetts  with  good  remilta.  ^^  ^^        """^  y*"»  in 


284 


QOVERNMKNT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIBS 


S- 


S.  Infles- 
ible  nfttim 
of  theay*- 


is  a  doctrine  difficult  to  sustain  on  any  rational  ground.  All 
heads  of  departments  are,  in  a  sense,  personally  responsible 
for  the  negligence  or  the  dishonesty  of  their  employees.  Some 
of  them  may  suffer  in  reputation  rather  than  in  purse  when 
inefficiency  or  dishonesty  is  disclosed;  but  that  difference 
scarcely  warrants  the  application  of  an  exceptional  method 
of  appointment  for  positions  of  financial  trust.  Besides, 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  city,  if  it  so  desires,  from 
putting  the  subordinate  officials  of  a  collecting  or  a  treasury 
department  under  individual  bonds.  It  would  cost  some- 
thing to  do  that,  but  in  the  end  it  would  be  far  more  eco- 
nomical than  to  tolerate  political  interference  in  these 
departments.  Moreover,  the  exemption  of  one  or  two  de- 
partments from  civil-service  rules  almost  invariably  makes 
these  offices  the  diimping-groimd  for  inefficients  who,  for 
personal  or  political  reasons,  must  be  provided  with  places 
on  the  city's  pay-roll.  Exempted  departments  are  usually 
the  most  overmanned,  the  most  expensive,  and  the  least 
satisfactory  in  the  whole  municipal  service. 

Other  objections  commonly  encoimtered  are  to  the  effect 
that  civil-service  commissions  are  prone  to  be  so  overzealous 
in  hewing  to  the  letter  and  disregarding  the  spirit  of  the 
laws  which  they  administer  that  in  some  instances  they  vir- 
tually dictate  the  allocation  of  duties  within  a  department, 
by  insisting  that  persons  certified  for  appointment  to  definite 
posts  shall  perform  the  duties  of  those  posts  only  and  not 
even  incidentally  have  anything  to  do  with  the  work  of  any 
others ;  that  the  system  encourages  a  bureaucratic  attitude 
the  part  of  subordinate  officials  toward  the  public; 


on 


and  that  those  appointed  under  its  rules  frequently  display 
a  lack  of  amenability  to  departmental  discipline.  All  of  these 
objections  are  to  some  slight  degree  justified  by  the  facts, 
but  in  large  part  they  are  without  any  real  foimdation  what- 
In  answer  to  them  it  may  reasonably  be  urged  that 


ever. 


MTOioiPAL  omcuLB  WD  nii>Lonn      au 

»  th^  find  it  «rf  «rt  to  «,ci«,  prrtJSr^    thlT 

vent  th.  c.vU«na«,  «gul.Uon.  by  ««yurtm«,t.^S 
dep«tm«t.  i  „d  th.t  «.oh  Udt  of  «nen.biBty  to  dLlt^ 

.f ^:3rfitt^x:rcir^^«r«L"  =« 

requirement  that  efficienqr  ««,rd.Tdl  b.  W  •       T  °  * 

department.  ii.~  «coi  .„tt:ndt.'i'rrth::t^ 

o.    ompetenc  or  incompet««.  with  whieh  «I  oS 
doc.  hu  work,  and  «bo  to  register  whatevw  rf.™™-. 
j;-d  agai^t  hin.    When  aCn^tTrrr^r 
the  efficiency  reconls  of  aU  the  ehgible  candidate8^^1' 
anuned,  due  weight  being  given  to  seniority  ^d^rZZ 
to  the  personal  judgment  of  the  department  headT^d  t^ 
has  infonnation  is  added  whatever  can  be  obtled  fro™ 
he  holdmg  of  an  app„,priate  competitive  te.t   ISf  ca^ 
an^rt  r;'"*'^'"*^^^^^«-^°^^<>t^ont?erec^^^^^ 
1  2L!t-  """"^f'O"  "  recommended  for  promotion^ 

scientific  plan,  supported   both  by  common-sense  and  by 
e-penence.    Its  steady  extension  seems  inevitable.  ^ 

«on  of  the  p;2s?^'tr<A^zrc?t  "-^"^•^  ^  «'^^- 


ill 

1 1 


wroogfiil 


ThenK)uii«> 
ment  of  a 
public 
bearing. 


OOVIRNIIBNT  OF  AMKRICAN  CITIB8 

Clvil-«ervice  regulations  that  will  afford  to  competent 
ofBciala  a  real  security  against  wrongful  dismissal,  and  at 
the  same  time  not  preclude  the  removal  of  obvious  misfits, 
are  the  most  perplexing  of  all  to  frame.    Officers  who  prove 
incompetent  in  the  actual  performance  of  their  duties,  or  in- 
capable of  working  in  harmony  with  others,  or  unamenable  to 
reasonable  discipline,  secure  pUces  in  the  public  employ  by 
way  of  civil-service  competitions  as  by  any  other  scheme 
of  selection,  although  of  course  not  so  frequently ;  and  it  is 
scarcely  arguable  that  such  officials,  whatever  qualifications 
they  may  have  displayed  at  the  time  of  their  appomtment, 
have  any  vested  immunity  from  dismissal.    But  all  that  the 
civil-service  authorities  of  most  cities  can  now  require,  and 
all  that  they  do  require,  is  that  reasonable  cause  for  dis- 
charge be  shown.    The  time  may  come  when  public  opinion 
will  everywhere  insist  that  this  reasonable  cause  be  demon- 
strated to  the  satisfaction  of  the  civil-service  commission  (as 
is  now  required  in  Chicago),  or  of  some  other  authority 
qualified  to  judge  impartially  between  an  ofScial  and  his 
superior;  but  that  time  is  not  yet.    At  present  the  civil- 
service  boards  are  usually  constrained  by  the  limitations  of 
law  to  let  the  head  of  the  department  or  the  mayor  decide 
whether  there  is  good  cause  for  the  dismissal  of  a  subordinate 
official  who  has  won  his  place  in  a  fair  and  open  competition. 
Not  infrequently  it  has  been  provided  that  the  removal  of 
such  an  officer  shall  take  place  only  after  the  specific  reasons 
for  his  dismissal  have  been  communicated  to  him  in  writing, 
and  in  some  cases  only  after  he  has  had  a  public  hearing 
before  the  removing  authority. 

These  safeguards  against  unfair  dismissab  are  far  from  be- 
ing iron-clad,  and  they  form  not  a  moiety  of  what  the  logic  of 
a  properly  constituted  merit  system  demands.  Yet  they  are, 
on  the  whole,  somewhat  more  effective  in  actual  operation 
than  they  seem  to  be.    The  requirement,  for  example,  that  an 


olBcW  •ppointed  under  ciTJU«rv<«.  »i      ».  .. . 

ke.™,  Mo™  hi.  .^ooyTZ^^  "*««b.»..pubB, 

tamdi,  ud  with  the  MiietMc,  «l  J«    i    ?  ""''  "^ 

into  the  «,.my.,  «^^^^"'^:'"'"Vil»^„ 

«m.  o-  highir  up.    K^Kt"*^  ""^ 
«J  dep.rtment/U  «riovM,~.  „"  "      ,  ^  "*  *  "^""^  •'nng 


B«""«»«Bw,  mo 
the  newspapew  parade  before  tf 

removal  of  the  recalcitrant  iaai 
"7  f*^** "  *  foregone  conduaion  j 
yields  his  office  only  after  a  con* 
at  least  serves  to  bring  his  ov 
attention.    Thow  who  ait  in 
«ty  hall  are  prepared  to  go 
when  it  becomes  necessary;  b 
often.    Removal   hearings,   ^ 
give  too  much  ammunition  to    , 

ability  to  keep  things  going  *aho»t 
do  not,  of  cou«e,  afford  thT*--^ 


*»ceye.     '  I  the  end  the 
*rtaintof.   confirmed, 
heotrt*rt;     at  the  man 
uch,  liowev.  -  une4ual, 
of  tike  case     j  public 
of  iiMpi^Qt  at  the 
jugh  tMi  unplea    ntnesa 
theyc-o  not  want    t  veiy 
^^  m,     friquoiitly, 

fo«s  ^f    n  arfia«ai6trati<m, 
oonfid<  !ce  in  the  mayor's 
-*     niu,-  fr.etion.     They 
tent  officials  ought  to  have  v  ^Tt^   -  """"P^ 

tice  they  do  furnish  safeguards  otL^     "if '  '  "*  '**  P'**^ 

Not  the  least  among  t^e  ^uesT        '*  "  "" 
'^at  may  be  tenned  its  by^L^    *  *      T^^"  are  n.^^ 
officials  selected  under  it^lST^  ,        T^"^  ^^^*  SSStfi 
before  being  permanently  appoinl^     '         '"""'^  **"^  "'"" 
attribute  of  the  system-  but^?^>-  '  ^^  '«^*riable 

features,  and  some^riatX^^^^^^  ^ '^^  ^^'^ 

of  announcing  publiclv  ♦>,«  «  1  ^^^  practice 

positions,  and'of^l  ^  27^ Tr""- '''  °^^^ 
concenung  their  merits  7tZuT         ^^^  formation 
menia  or  faults  to  come  forward  with  it. 


388  OOVBRNMINT  OF  AMSRICAN  OITIlt 

B«rton,  for  wumple,  the  n^ne.  of  Ul  tho«»  who.  «ft«  n 
rigid  physical  and  mental  ewunination,  are  eertiBed  for 
•ppomtment  to  the  poUee  force  of  the  dty  .Tp^Z 

fo,ZJ!r/*t'"°!r^  'PP°"**"  '^  '°"'*«*  their  in- 
formation  to  the  poUce  commladoner.    If  there  »  anything 

2<lw        k  ?«»*P»*«>^«o««totheraLof1S! 
clnl  JZ;?''  ''^■:  '^^^  '^'•^  ^  virtuaUy  a  certificate  of 

!Xjr~^  uT"^  '"*"*  •^"y  »«""•  o«««'  i«  the  city; 
and  that  m  iteeW  h«i  contributed  to  the  upbuildingof  a  whole- 
jome  profe-ional  epirit  throughout  the  pen«lel  ZZ 
department.  Civil^rvice  competition.,  moreover,  havj 
encouniged  official,  and  employee,  to  .pend  their  .^hc^ 
fajtudy  rather  than  in  electioneering;  they  have  WpeS^ 
d^y  mumcipal  employment ;  and  they  have  elimin^  . 
treat  deal  of  double-dealing  f«,m  the  nmk.  of  tho«  Vho 
nerve  the  city  for  a  UveUhood. 

^^  of  tl^^lir  """''T'  '"*  much.to.b^p«i^  achievement 

nu.  °'  "^-^rvice  reform  ha.  been  the  partial,  and  In  «,me 

in.tance.  the  total,  abohtion  of  that  vicioi.  pra^SceT 

pohtical  awewment.  upon  municipal  offic.  -aolder..    TWe 

whoeaZrh^T7"'f  *^"^^"  «^-  *he  .crubwomen 
^.w!JT-  ry/°""  "  ^^  ^y  ^'"^  ^«hor  in  the  city  h«D 
yielded  their  toU  to  the  party',  war-chert  a.  the  price  of 
con  mued  employment.    That  day  ha.  gone  by.    mew 

party  do  «>  m  mos  case.,  of  their  own  accord  and  not  a. 
a  matter  of  compulsion.  The  .yrtem  likewise  discourage, 
the  active  per«,nal  partiupation  of  city  employee,  in^ 


TIM 


•■»<..»  th.  Wend.  rfT!j^"  .'  .-^  «•  i^  .  pl«. 
whoM  caiue  the  work  is  <|on«  ^  *^'  P^>' « 

P^       ur  sum.  paid  to  m«^        ^  '^^^  '~»  *»»«' 
tak.  .  nto  the  ci^.  alrjw^cl.t!f  1'  "•"  '^ 
emergenciee.    Theee  .re  but  a  ZL  J!!  '*•*»»«  *<>  »eet 
^y  way.  ia  ^hieh  mimidpnutJTrir^^'r  °'  *^' 
to  give  employee,  more  i^Zl*?       .    *■  ''^°  <*"^ 
the  law  al,ow.'f^„r^  ^^^Z^^,  T'  'T  °' 
require  that  the  weekly  ^y^  !?  ,f^  *^!*r  *«<»»•    To 
go  before  the  civil^»rvi«/Z^^^      *^*  auaicipality  d«di 
body  be/ore  anT^I^^^'Tr;-!' »- -ftiiied  by  that 
as  both  New  York  W^bLZ.?^  '  ?  *  '^  P~^on> 

applied  it  would  unqutiot^; j::;;^°r » «--w 

-urns  now  squandered  thr^^^^t™  *^*"^°^^««e 
dacated.    •  *^  ***®  numerous  channels  in- 

In  the  general  quality  of  th«  ««  •  i     , 
*o  draw  into  its  regubr  ge^-^  V    "^  *^**  »*  «««*««» 

hasnotseta  veiyhS^  3^^  ^"h'T^;"^'"  "*^ 
measure  to  the  use  ofinfeZ  ZiK  Jt^  ?  *^"  ^"^  ^  ^arge 
't  employs,  and  to  Vhe  SL  ♦  °^"''^^^*^*k<«ewhom 
affoHM  them     fe  part^""  ^^^  ^"^^  ^t  has  usually 

^  r      Mwu  M  a  lau*  employer  of  labor. 


Theeltjr', 
NputetiM 

MM 

•mplagnar. 


290 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


%i 


•I  ,  ' 


I'' 

5^  ; 

m 


The  care 
<tf  aced 
amployeei 


Capable  service  it  has  usually  underpaid  and  too  frequently 
aUowed  to  go  otherwise  unrecognized.    The  competent  fore- 
man, draughtsman,  bookkeeper,  or  mechanic  is  not  likely,  if 
he  has  much  ambition,  to  stay  in  the  city's  employ  very  long. 
When  he  gets  an  opportunity  to  better  himself  in  private 
employment,  he  takes  it.    Consequently,  the  municipal  stafiF 
is  made  up  to  a  large  degree  of  men  who  are  in  point  of  fact 
overpaid,  that  is,  who  get  from  the  city  more  than  their 
abilities  and   industry  would    command    elsewhere.     To 
enter  the  service  of  an  American  city  is  not,  therefore,  as 
it  is  in  Europe,  to  begin  an  administrative  career  which 
leads  to  something  worth  while.    It  is  rather  to  enter  a 
blind  aUey  which  leads  nowhere.    The  city  halls  of  the 
country  are  filled  with  men  well  past  middle  age  who  serve 
as  clerks  with  a  weekly  wage  of  twenty  or  thirty  dollars,  and 
are  rarely  worth  it.    For  the  quaUty  of  the  service  which 
it  procures  for  the  city,  the  municipal  pay-roU  leans  rather 
to  the  side  of  generosity ;  but  the  paradox  remains  that  the 
average  city  pays  too  Uttle  to  secure  the  type  of  service 
that  it  ought  to  have. 

And  there  is  still  the  problem  of  providing  for  officials 
and  employees  when  they  have  grown  old  in  the  city's  ser- 
vice. Most  foreign  cities,  and  particularly  the  cities  of  the 
German  Empire,  have  solved  this  problem  by  establishing  a 
municipal  pension  system.  In  America  only  a  very  few  cities 
have  pension  arrangements  of  any  sort;  and  even  these 
systems  apply  to  none  but  such  officials  as  poUce  officers, 
firemen,  and  schoolteachers.  When,  therefore,  an  official 
or  employee  pas.ses  the  pomt  of  further  usefuhiess  to  the 
city,  only  two  courses  are  open.  One  is  to  dismiss  him  from 
the  service  and  let  him  fare  through  old  age  as  best  he  can ; 
the  other  is  to  retain  him  upon  the  municipal  pay-roll  to  the 
exclusion  of  some  younger  and  more  competent  man.  As 
between  these  alternatives  the  city  is  apt  to  choose  the  latter. 


MUNICIPAL  OUTICIALS  AND  EMPLOYEES  291 

PubUc  opinion  views  with  a  great  deal  of  leniency  the  practice 
of  carrying  on  the  list  of  supernumerary  clerks,  or  on  the 
rolls  of  the  street-cleaning  department,  or  as  janitors  or 
messengers  or  in  some  other  like  capacity,  officials  and  em- 
ployees who  by  reason  of  long  service  have  reached  the  stage 
where  they  no  longer  give  full  return  for  the  wages  paid  to 
them.    Nevertheless,   the   practice   is   both   directly   and 
indirectly  very  expensive.    Not  only  does  it  saddle  the  city 
with  a  heavy  pension-roU  disguised  as  a  sakry  and  wage  list, 
but  it  spreads  a  demoraUzing  influence  through  the  whole 
rauricipal  service.    One  need  only  watch  the  operations  of  a 
street  or  a  sewer  gang,  for  example,  to  be  convinced  that  the 
pace  at  which  city  laborers  do  theirwork  is  usually  determined 
by  the  oldest  and  least  competent  among  them;  and  the 
same  principle  holds  to  some  extent  throughout  the  city 
departments.    The  practice  of  carrying  superannuated  offi- 
cials and  employees  in  the  active  service  slows  up  the  whole 
labor  machine,  and  thereby  conduces  to  the  costliness  of 
everything  that  the  municipaUty  undertakes  to  do.    A  pen- 
sion system  applying  to  officials  and  employees  in  every 
branch  of  the  city's  service  would,  therefore,  amply  justify 
Itself  on  the  score  of  simple  economy,  provided  it  were  prop- 
erly safeguarded   against   abuse.    To  safeguard  a  pension 
system,  however,  is  not  by  any  means  easy,  unless  the  system 
IS  made  to  work  hand  in  hand  with  some  scheme  ox  appoint- 
ment that  will  prevent  the  old  and  the  inefficient  from  getting 
on  the  city's  labor  force  at  the  outset.    To  the  average  voter, 
moreover,  the  idea  of  providing  pensions  for  men  who  have 
had  steady  municipal  employment  for  twenty  or  thirty  years 
savors  of  unfairness  to  men  in  private  employments  who 
get  no  such  generosity.    When  pension  schemes  have  been 
submitted  at  the  poUs,  they  have  as  a  rule  been  decisively 
rejected.    It  is  a  curious  feature  of  electoral  psychology  that 
the  same  public  opinion  which  aUows  the  city's  pay-roU 


292 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


to  be  made  a  medium  of  philanthropy,  and  thereby  tolerates 
a  practice  which  is  unbusinesslike,  expensive,  and  tmfair, 
should  balk  so  readily  at  proposab  to  give  civil  pensions 
under  their  proper  name.^ 


i 


flfl 


IW 


RsncBaifcis 

There  u  an  extenaiTe  literature  relating  to  the  problem  of  aeouiing  o»> 
pable  administrative  officials  for  Amerioan  dtiee,  most  of  it  listed  under 
the  general  head  of  oivil-servioe  reform.  The  best  general  work  on  the 
genesis  and  rise  of  the  spoils  system,  its  puamountcy,  and  its  steady  dis- 
placement in  favor  of  the  merit  plan  of  ^tpointment  is  C.  R.  Fish's  CivU 
Service  and  the  Patronage  (New  Tork,  1905).  Bendes  covering  the  gen- 
eral field  in  a  comprehensive  way,  this  book  contains  a  wellHMlected  Ust 
of  references  to  other  sources  of  information.  The  annual  report*  of  the 
civil-service  commission  of  New  Tork  and  Masaachusetta  regularly  con- 
tain very  informing  discussions  <rf  the  problems  which  oome  to  these 
boards  for  solution  each  year;  and  the  annual  publications  issued  by  the 
municipal  civil-service  boards  in  Hiiladelphia,  Chicago,  Kansas  City,  and 
other  important  centres  very  often  deal  with  mattors  ot  great  interest. 
Special  publications  issued  by  the  civil-sorvioe  authorities  from  time  to 
time,  such  as  handbooks  for  (he  guidance  <rf  candidates,  often  throw  light 
on  the  actual  workings  of  the  moit  Qrstem.  In  this  oonneotion  special 
mention  should  be  made  of  the  Cml  Service  Text  Book  (1010-1911),  issued 
by  the  civil-service  oomnussion  of  Chicago. 

A  monthly  periodical  known  as  Oood  Oovemment,  published  in  New 
Tork  as  the  offi«nal  organ  of  tiie  National  Civil  Service  Reform  League,  is 
the  best  and  moat  inclusive  chronicle  of  what  is  taking  place  day  by  day 
in  the  matter  of  improved  i4>pointing  methods.  The  annual  Proceeding* 
of  the  SMue  organization  also  include  reviews  of  each  year's  progress  made 
by  the  merit  qrstem.  The  charter  provisions  rdating  to  dvil  servioe  are 
mmmarized,  so  far  as  the  larger  dties  are  oonoemed,  in  A.  R.  Hatton's 
Digeat  </  City  Ckartere  (Chicago,  1906) ;  and  so  far  as  these  provisions 
have  been  inserted  in  charters  of  later  date  the.  are  available  in  C.  A. 
Beard's  DigeH  of  Shmt  BaUot  Chartere  (New  Turk,  1911).  A  good  deal 
ct  useful  material  relating  to  the  employment  of  labor  by  dties,  partio- 
nlarly  in  their  water  and  lighting  departmoits,  is  included  in  the  National 
Civio  Federation's  Report  on  Municipal  and  Private  OwnerMp  of  PiMie 

'  In  1910  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  enaeted  a  nnaaure  authoris- 
ing the  thirty-three  cities  of  the  commonwealth  to  establish  pulsion  sys- 
tems tat  their  employees.  I^vision  was  made  that,  to  be  effective  in 
any  dty,  tiie  measure  diould  be  first  accepted  by  the  dty  ooundl  and  then 
adopted  by  the  people  at  the  polls.  In  only  one  dty  as  yet  has  the  act 
been  accepted  by  the  coundl,  and  in  this  ease  the  voters  r^jeeted  it  by  an 
overwhelming  majority. 


MUNICIPAL  OFFICIALS  AND  EMPLOYEES 


293 


Utauiea  (3  vola.,  N«w  Ymk,  1007).  MpeeiaUy  in  the  ohspter  entitled 
"Labor  and  PoUtioa"  by  John  R.  Conunoni.  The  ReporU  of  the  Boston 
Finance  Commiadon  (7  vols.,  Boaton,  1008-1912)  alao  contain  numerous 
statements  of  faot  and  opinion  bearing  on  the  vioe  of  patronace  in  mu- 
nicipal departments  and  on  the  methods  of  tJiminating  it.  Yot  general 
discussions,  see  F.  A.  Cleveland,  Municipal  AdminiatratioH  and  Account- 
ing (New  York,  1000),  chs.  ii-iil ;  Samuel  Whinery,  Municipal  Puldie 
Worki  (New  York,  1903),  ohs.  ii.  and  viii.;  J.  A.  Fairlie,  Euay$  in 
Municipal  Adminiitration  (New  York,  1008),  oh.  iii. ;  F.  J.  Goodnow, 
Municipal  Government  (New  Ymk,  1000),  oh.  zi. ;  and  D.  B.  Eaton,  Goo- 
ernment  of  MunicipalUiee  (New  York,  1800),  ohs.  vii.-viii. 

The  rules  of  law  relating  to  the  rights  and  responsibilitiea  of  mu- 
nicipal officials  may  be  found  in  J.  F.  Dillon's  Law  of  Municipal  Corpora- 
tions (5  vols.,  Boston,  1011),  I.  ii  392  IT.  Attoition  may  also  be  called  to 
article  iv.  of  the  outline  of  suitable  charter  provisions  relatiTig  to  admin- 
istrative officers  that  is  printed  in  the  National  Municipal  League's  Mu- 
nicipal Program  (New  York,  1000),  204-2i5 ;  and  to  the !' Draft  of  a  Civil 
Service  Law  for  Cities,"  by  E.  H.  Goodwin,  in  Proeeedinge  of  the  League 
for  1910,  pp.  577-680. 

On  the  genoral  question  of  the  proper  internal  organization  of  a  (Aty 
department,  data  can  be  obtained  from  the  publications  of  the  various 
bureaus  of  municipal  research  msntioaed  in  the  list  of  refennoes  q>- 
pended  to  Chapter  X  above. 


I ,' 


»*f.i 


fr-'* 


Theprin- 
ci|Je  of 
divided 
powers  in 
city 
govenuneDt. 


The  com- 

nuMionplMi 

abandona 

thiaprin- 

ciple. 


CHAPTER  XII 

dTT  GOVERNMENT  BY  A  COMMISSION 

In  the  preceding  chapters  an  outline  has  been  given  of 
what  may  be  termed  the  orthodox  t3rpe  of  city  government 
in  the  United  States,  a  system  which  rests  upon  the  principle 
that  legislative  and  administrative  functions  should  be 
vested  in  separate  and  substantially  independent  hands. 
Down  to  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  no  city 
(with  the  exception  of  the  national  capital)  had  permanently 
departed  from  that  principle.  Powers  were  from  time  to 
time  shifted  about  among  the  several  organs  of  local  govern- 
ment in  the  hope  that  better  results  might  thereby  be 
obtained ;  but  in  all  cases  the  cities  stood  firmly  upon  the 
doctrine  that  to  concentrate  legislative  and  administrative 
powers  in  the  same  hands  would  be  detrimental  and  dan- 
gerous to  the  best  interests  of  the  citizens. 

City  government  by  a  commission  embodira,  first  of  all,  a 
radical  disregard  of  this  time-honored  theory.  It  starts 
with  the  idea  that  the  principle  of  division  of  powers  has 
no  place  in  business  administration,  and  hence,  since  the 
work  of  city  authorities  is  business,  not  government,  that 
the  doctrine  should  not  be  recognized  in  the  conduct  of  local 
affairs.  Disregarding  old  notions  concerning  the  usefulness 
of  checks  and  balances  in  governmental  organization,  it 
puts  all  legislative  and  administrative  authority  into  the 
hands  of  the  same  group  of  men.  To  state  it  more  exactly, 
the  commission  plan  abolishes  the  city's  legislative  organs, 
and,  on  the  ground  that  there  is  very  little  legislating  to  b« 
done  in  municipalities  anyway,  intrusts  that  little  to  the 

294 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  BY  A  COMMISSION  295 

administrative  commission.    Now  whil«  th,--  ,      . 

ciple  of  governmental  organizatioI'^T;  *  **°*"*^  ^'^ 
traditional  theories  oiT^^^lr^^Z:^:'^^^^ -^'"^ 
than  an  appUcation  to  ciJes  of  fs^  1  I  ""**  "°'' 
states  of  the  Union  has  loJZ^!  •  ^  ^''^  "*  ^^«^** 
government  ofTunt^     ?h^''  m  operation  as  respects  the 

both  legisiativrrradSLTriisrr^^^^^ 

estabhshed  itself  in  various  parts^fThe^^r^^^^   -ce 

In  Its  apphcation  to  city  Kovemmpn*  ♦k 
plan,  as  is  weU  known  first  L^I^n\^  commission  Be.i„^ 
littlp  m««.  *u         r°>  ""'  appeared  m  Galveston.  Texas  a  inoiSJSr 

mount  .teadily,  and  hor.^^'Z^"^''^  «» 
not  uncommon     Cit^  ^«    IT        ^  current  expenses  was 

to  the  city's  servicT  C  !^""  "'  ■""»'  ""J  P"*' 
.hat  few  LrXt^  wtThe  Z:  '  l"  »  ""^  '  ™^ 
•»y  time,    me  t«c-rarw„  ^''^^'1'''"'°'' '"  " 

w»  that .  conriderable  element  mW^^tei^tT"" 
fccouraged  with  a.e  whole  "tnation^^t^jT™ 
lest  any  intortxif  in  «,k-*        ^  ceased  to  manT> 

uy  mterest  m  what  went  on  at  the  city  haU 

«'  the  eity^^oL'^  ?'  °"'''  ""'"J'"' «»»«»  one-thid 

•ion  waa  «the,  H.??  "'°'^'«'  I"  »!«/»  financUl  condi- 

%  on  i"  ?r:lt  ti  W^'  ""*  °'  """^  "■• 

°^  '*®  borrowed  except  at  exorbitant 


296 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


iii 


rates.'  It  happened  that  much  of  the  real  estate  in  Qal> 
veston  was  held  by  a  comparatively  small  number  of  citizens. 
Some  of  these,  accordingly,  went  to  the  state  legislature 
and  virtually  asked  that  the  city  be  put  into  receivership. 
They  requested  that  the  old  city  government  be  swept  away 
root  and  branch,  and  that  for  some  years,  at  any  rate,  all 
the  powers  formerly  vested  in  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and 
subsidiary  organs  of  city  government  be  given  to  a  commission 
of  five  business  men.  This  drastic  action  they  urged  as  a 
means  of  saving  the  city  from  involvement  in  grave  financial 
difficulties,  if  not  from  actual  bankruptcy.'  Acceding  to 
their  request,  the  legislature  passed  an  act  empowering  the 
governor  to  appoint  three  of  the  five  commissioners  and  pro- 
viding that  the  other  two  be  elected.  A  year  or  two  after 
they  had  taken  office,  however,  a  constitutional  difficulty 
arose.  In  a  matter  which  came  before  the  courts  it  was  held 
that  the  appointment  of  city  officers  by  the  state  authorities 
was  contrary  to  a  provision  in  the  Texan  constitution;' 
whereupon  the  legislature  amended  its  act  by  providing  that 
all  five  members  of  the  Galveston  commission  should  be 
chosen  by  popular  vote.*  The  same  three  commissioners 
who  had  been  holding  office  under  the  governor's  appointment 
were  elected  by  the  voters. 

*  "City  script  sold  at  fifty  cents  on  the  doOar;  and  in  additicm  to  a 
floating  debt  of  1200,000,  previously  outstanding,  the  municipality  de- 
faulted in  the  paymoit  of  the  interest  upon  its  bonds,  which  fell  to 
■ixty."  —  E.  S.  BRAoroRO,  CommtMion  OovemnutU  in  Amtriean  Citki 
(New  York,  1911),  4. 

'  The  Galveston  business  men  who  promoted  the  movement  had  befon 
them  the  federal  Act  which  established  the  present  govwnment  of  the 
District  ol  Columbia,  also  the  Tennessee  law  which  in  1878  created  the  tai> 
ing  district  of  Memphis  and  placed  it  in  charge  of  a  oonunission  until  the 
city  had  recovered  from  the  yellow  fever  epidemic  of  that  year.  See  the 
article  on  "Commission  Government  in  the  South,"  by  W.  E.  Scroggs,  in 
Annalt  of  th«  American  Academy  of  Politieal  and  Social  Seimee,  November, 
1911. 

*  Ex  parte  Lewis,  45  Texae  Crimin<d  ReporU,  1. 

*  The  change  was  made  on  March  30, 1903. 


CITT  OOVBRNMBNT  BY  A  COMMISSION  297 

As  thu.  amended  in  1903,  the  Gal verton  charter  provides  n..  oi 

ers  one  of  them  to  be  entitled  the  mayoi^president  and  aU 
to  be  chosen  a  large.    The  mayoi^president  is  the  presidi^ 
chairman  at  all  meetings  of  the  commission,  but  otherwisehe 
has  no  special  powers.    The  commission,  by  majority  vote 
enacte  all  ordinances  and  passes  aU  appropriations,  the  Lyor^ 
president  haiong  no  veto  but  voting  Hke  his  fellow-corn- 
nussioners.    It  further  supervises  the  enforcement  of  its 
own  ordinances  and  regulates  the  expenditure  of  its  own 
appropnations.    Likewise  it  handles  all  questions  i^lati^ 
to  franchises  and  locations  in  the  city  streets,  and  aU  awards 
of  contracts  for  public  works.    In  a  word,  it  exercises  2 

It/^r"  r^'f  ^  """^"^  ^  '^'  "^*y°''  ^"d  °^  aldermen, 
and  other  officials,  acting  either  singly  or  by  concurrence 

The  commissioners,  by  majority  vote,  apportion  among 

themselves  the  headships  of  the  four  administrative  depa^ 

ments^mto  which  the  business  of  the  city  is  grouped  - 

namely,  the  departments  of  finance  and  revenue,  waS^^lnd 

ZZT  ^"  ""'  ""  '^'^^''''  -^  atreets'lK 
property.  Jhe  mayoivpreddent  is  not  assigned  to  the  head 
tZ  T  '^T.'^"^^"*'  »>"*  ^  supposed  to  exercise  a  coor^ 
natmg  supervision  over  them  all.  Each  of  the  commi*- 
sioners  is  thus  <«rectly  responsible  for  the  routine  direc'^^ 

trheTr*'r.''°'*'^^^*y'"^^-»-     AppointmIL 
0  the  higher  posts  in  each  department  are  not  made  by  the 

commissioner  who  is  in  direct  charge,  but  by  vote  of  the  whole 
commission.  Minor  appointments  are,  however,  left  to  the 
commissioner  in  whose  department  they  may  hap^  to  fi  ! 

the  author's  paper  on^'T1«  o!iJ^  «4»rter  rrovkloM  may  be  found  in 

reprinted  in  C.  R.  WooH«rfrw.V^T^  Laagm,  1907,  pp.  142-155,  and 
1911).  oh.  iy.         ^«'*'™«^"  <^»*»  (^«^ment  bu  Commiman  (New  YoriJ 


OOTERNMENT  OF  AMXBICAN  CITIB8 


».  > 


Eitmaion 

olthepUn 

toothw 

Tmmb 

oitiM. 


ItiinnMi 
aocUnnurd. 


It  should  be  remembered  that  the  Galveston  plan  was  not 
at  first  intended  to  be  a  permanent  sjrstem  of  government  for 
the  city.    Its  prime  object  was  to  enable  Galveston  to  tido 
over  a  difficult  emergency  just  as  Memphis  had  done  many 
years  before.    Prepared  somewhat  hastily,  with  very  little 
experience  to  serve  as  a  guide,  it  vested  in  the  hands  of  a 
small  body  of  men  more  extensive  final  powers  than  most 
cities  would  care  to  give  away;  but  the  lapse  of  a  few 
years  proved  that  the  new  system  was  a  godsend  to  the 
stricken  community.    The  people's  civic  spirit  was  aroused, 
the  business  of  the  city  recovered  rapidly,  and  in  a  remark- 
ably short  time  the  place  was  again  on  its  feet,  financially 
and  otherwise.    Then  developed  the  conviction  that  com- 
mission government  was  a  good  form  to  maintain  perma- 
nently.   The  other  cities  of  Texas,  noting  conditions  under 
the  new  regime  in  Galveston,  came  forward  and  asked  the 
legislature  for  similar  charters;   and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years  commission  charters  had  been  given  to  all  the  impor- 
tant cities  of  the  state,  including  Houston,  Dallas,  £1  Paso, 
Atistin,  and  Fort  Worth. 

This  development  naturally  attracted  attention  in  other 
states,  and  the  reform  organizations  of  various  Northern 
cities  began  to  discuss  the  possibility  of  applying  the  scheme 
to  the  solution  of  their  own  municipal  problems.  The  first 
municipality  outside  of  Texas  to  accept  the  plan  was  Des 
Moines,  the  capital  city  of  Iowa.  In  1907  the  Iowa  legisU- 
ture  passed  an  act  permitting  any  city  of  the  state  having 
a  population  of  more  than  25,000  to  adopt  a  commission 
type  of  government;  and  forthwith  the  citizens  of  Des 
Moines,  by  whom  the  act  had  originally  been  brought  for^ 
ward  and  urged,  took  advantage  of  the  new  provision.* 

» Lam  of  Iowa,  1907,  p.  48  (apiwoved  Mweh  29, 1907,  and  adopted  at  a 
■pedal  election  in  Des  Moines  on  June  20,  following).  The  Ainf>ndin*ntf 
to  the  original  Act  may  be  found  in  Lam  of  Iowa,  1909,  pp.  6S-«3.  and  is 


CITY  OOVERNM^IT  BY  A  COMMISSION  299 

Simply  .  ne^^Zn^i^i  02^!!"',  ^^  commWon  i.  ruv^ 

linebut embodying  Jefo:e?ftC  '^J^,"  "  T  ^ 
for  a  commiaaion  consisting  of  a  m^r'  ^  f   '''  '*  P"'^^^' 
all  elected  at  lai^je  for  a  twc^yl^Z  TVu"""  ^o^-ciUors, 
city.    To  thi«  body  i»Z^  ^r.u^  *^*  ^°**"  °^  *»»« 
vested  in  the  mavor  ri*?  ,   .  ^^*  P**^*"  Wtherto 

board  of  watemorLs  SCl'^^L^' f7.r'^"^°»«"' 
Bolicitor,  assessor,  tream^uditrl*  ^'"^  *™'^'  • 
other  administrative^;  or  ^i  '"'^  '^^^^'  «d  all 
Moines  plan  the  busin^of  the  r^"'  ^"^'^  '^*  ^ 
departments,  namelH'uf  aff^  L"  T*^  ^^^^  «-« 
public  safety,  streets  ThT  Kr^'     '^°""**  ^"^  ^^ances, 

■".Mioner  who  i.  elected  nuyor  Jtl,.  ,»    v  ""  ""»■ 

t-e  dep.nn,«..  o,  pubuHffl"  tl  ^^TTk  ""^  "' 
nuMionere  is  put  at  th.  k..j    /  ""  "*«■  "Bl- 

unts by  .^.fo^'V^  X  JT  °'*'  ""■"  ""P^ 
tie  body  i.  ellleZm  W  ^~r™"°'/'  «""■"'  « 
the variou, dePMUnfflbi!^'  "  "^  employee,  of 

^  h«  auth-c^ir rc  o?  ^t""""^"'  •"* 


800 


QOVKRNMKNT  OW  AMIRICAN  CITII8 


12 


\      "'\ 


%      l.t.-l 


1  ■  ! 


HMuiUia 
Dm 


for  nominatioiu  by  a  general  non-partisan  primary.  The 
initiative  is  the  right  of  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  the  city  to  present  to  the  council  by  petition  any 
proper  ''  ''nance  or  resolution,  and  to  require,  if  such  ordi> 
nance  or  resolution  be  not  passed  by  the  council,  that  it  be 
submitted  without  alteration  to  the  voters  by  I'eferendum. 
If  at  such  referendum  it  receives  a  majority  of  votes,  it  be- 
comes effective.  The  protest  affords  a  means  of  delaying 
the  operation  of  ordinances  enacted  by  the  council  until  the 
voters  can  have  an  opportunity  to  express  themselves.  By 
this  expedient  no  ordinance  passed  by  the  council  (except 
an  emergent  measure)  can  go  into  effect  until  ten  days  after 
its  passage.  Meanwhile,  if  a  petition  protesting  against 
such  ordinance,  signed  by  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  voters 
of  the  city,  is  presented  to  the  council,  it  is  incumbent  on 
that  body  to  reconsider  the  matter.  If  the  ordinance  is  not 
entirely  repealed,  it  must  then  be  submitted  to  the  voters 
for  their  acceptance  or  rejection.  The  vote  takes  place  at 
a  regular  election,  if  there  is  one  within  six  months ;  other- 
wise  at  a  special  election  held  for  the  purpose.  If  indorsed 
at  the  polls,  the  OiJmance  becomes  effective  at  once;  if 
rejected  by  the  voters,  it  remains  inoperative.  It  is  further 
provided  in  the  Des  Moines  charter  that  no  public-utility 
franchise  of  any  sort  shall  be  valid  until  confirmed  by  the 
electorate.  The  recall  provision  permits  the  voters  to  remove 
from  office  any  member  of  the  council  at  any  time  after  three 
months'  tenure  in  office.  Petitions  for  recall  or  removal 
must  be  signed  by  at  least  twenty  per  cent  of  the  voters, 
and  the  question  of  recalling  a  councilman  is  put  before 
them  at  a  special  election.  All  nominations  in  Des  Moines 
are  made  at  a  non-partisan  primary,  and  the  ballots  used  at 
the  subsequent  elections  bear  no  party  designations. 

The  new  regime  in  Des  Moines  seemed  to  begin  inaus* 
piciously.    Those  citizens  who  had  been  behind  the  new 


OITT  OOVIRNMniT  BY  A  COMMISSION  801 

charter  movement  put  forward  their  date  of  candidates 
consisting  of  business  and  professional  men  of  standing  who 
had  not  been  prominent  in  the  partisan  poUtics  of  the  city 
under  the  old  dispensation.    A  vigorous  campaign  for  the 
election  of  this  group  was  undertaken,  but  when  the  baUots 
were  counted  it  was  found  that  the  opponents  had  proved 
stronger  at  the  polls.    The  first  councO  under  the  new  char- 
ter  was,  accordingly,  made  up  of  men  who  had  been  more  or 
less  closely  affiliated  with  the  old  order  of  things,  and  sr-ne 
of  whom  were  thought  to  be  more  proficient  as  poUtidans 
than  as  administrative  experts.    It  was  therefore  assumed 
m  many  quarters  that  the  new  machine  had  slipped  a  coft 
with  the  result  that  the  city  was  Ukely  to  have  an  adminial 
tration  of  the  old  type  under  a  new  name.    But  the  error 
of  this  assumption  soon  became  apparent ;  for  the  experi- 
ence  of  a  few  years  has  proved  that  the  caliber  and  quali- 
fications  of  the  men  in  office  ar«  not  more  important  than 
the  system  under  which  they  are  expected  to  cany  on  their 
work.    There  is  little  question  that  the  administration 
of  affairs  m  Des  Moines  has  been  very  much  more  efficient 
Knee  the  commission  took  charge  in  April,  1908,  than  it  was 
during  the  years  preceding  that  date.* 

Since  its  adoption  in  Des  Moines  the  spread  of  the  re-  ^^ 
vised  commission  system  has  been  rapid.    During  the  next  ^«' 
our  yea«  a  great  many  cities,  scattered  about  in  more 
than  twenty  different  states,  abolished  the  old  system  and 
es  abhshed  the  new  one.    Some  of  these  are  cities  with  popu- 
lations exceeding  50,000,  but  in  general  the  commisrion 

achievB^TI^^Srlr*^**^^'^   •"'~™*  of  what  the   .yrtm  hM 
2j.ne.Pta„.p™»^by^8j^  Hi-oriddSod^  wTla^**cS: 


QOVBRNliINT  OF  AMUUCAN  CITIIS 


i: 


m 


ywtotioa 
in  detail*. 


plan  seemf  to  appeAl  more  strongly  to  the  imaUer  urbui 
centres.  A  list  of  the  cities  that  have  adopted  the  system, 
or  some  variation  of  it,  would  M>ntain  at  present  the  names 
of  more  than  two  hundred  municipalities.*  Perhaps  half 
as  many  more  have  projects  of  charter  revision  in  hand,  and 
in  all  of  these  the  commission  scheme  of  government  is  re- 
ceiving due  consideration.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  however, 
that  only  one  city  with  a  population  exceeding  2000,00  has  as 
yet  adopted  the  system,  and  that  it  has  been  put  to  trial  in 
only  seven  cities  with  populations  exceeding  100,000.  More 
than  half  the  total  number  of  municipalities  which  have  com- 
mission government  are  places  with  less  than  5000  people. 
Thus  far  it  seems  to  have  served  chiefly  as  a  scheme  of  town 
government.  But  almost  everywhere  the  voters  have  taken 
kindly  to  it,  and  wherever  the  question  of  adopting  the  ^stem 
has  been  put  before  the  people  at  the  polls  they  have,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  accepted  it.  As  yet  there  have  been 
no  backsliders :  no  city  has  gone  back  to  the  old  plan  aftor 
tr3ring  the  new. 

Considerable  variation  in  details  will  be  found  among 
commission  charters,  but  most  of  the  points  of  difference 
are  of  slight  importance.  The  term  for  which  commia* 
sioners  are  elected  varies  from  a  single  year  to  six  years,  but 
two-year  and  four-year  terms  are  the  most  common.*  Mem- 
bers of  the  commission  are  usually  paid,  the  annual  stipends 
ranging  from  a  few  hundred  to  several  thousand  dollars  per 
annum.  In  nearly  all  commission  cities  the  distribution 
of  administrative  work  among  the  members  is  made  after 
the  commission  has  met  and  organized  for  business,  but  in 

*  The  Uat,  at  it  itood  on  Juuury  1, 1912,  may  be  found  in  the  Bngineer- 
ing  ATeuw  for  April  4,  1912,  pp.  63S-639.  Many  (rf  the  more  imp<Hrtant 
oommiBdon  ohartora  are  printed  in  C.  A.  Beard's  Digut  of  Short  BaM 
Charters  (New  York,  1911). 

*  In  Gloucester,  MaMaohtuattB,  the  term  ia  one  year ;  in  Qnthria, 
Oklahoma,  it  ia  nx  yean. 


aad 


CITT  OOVBRNMBNT  BT  ▲  OdHMIMION  808 

•  few  dtie*  tht  eommiMionen  are  eleet«d  direetly  to  lUted 
departmentf;  that  it  to  My,  one  eommiMioiier  if  elected 
director  of  pubUo  safety,  another  diraotor  of  finance,  and 
80  on.»    Something  may  be  said  in  favor  of  each  method ; 
but  on  the  whole  the  plan  of  electing  five  eommiaeionera  with- 
out any  reference  to  the  special  administrative  work  which 
each  will  have  to  do  is  almost  sure  to  be  the  better  one.    This 
is  because  the  commission  is  not  intended  to  be  a  set  of  ad- 
ministrative experts;  no  body  directly  elected  ever  can  be  i»i,, 
such.    The  commission  is  rather  a  small  board  of  amateurs  «fa,of 
who  will  secure  expert  officiab  and  take  advice  from  them. 
If  this  fundamental  principle  be  disregarded,  if  elective 
commissioners  attempt  to  conduct  their  departments  either 
without  expert  advice  or  in  disregard  of  it,  the  new  pUn  of 
municipal  governmeat  will  hardly  take  us  very  far  in  the 
direction  of  more  efficient  or  more  economical  administm- 
tion.    When  the  voters  are  asked  to  elect  mr    directly  to 
the  headships  of  designated  departmento,  the.    ^e  ahnost 
sure  to  look  more  or  less  for  special  qualifications  on  the 
part  of  candidates  who  come  forward.    It  is  taken  for 
granted  that  the  director  or  supervisor  of  finance,  for  ex- 
ample, ought  to  be  some  one  who  before  his  election  has 
had  a  connection  with  financial  aflfairs.    Hence  it  is  that, 
under  this  system  of  choosing  department  heads,  the  candid 
date  with  special  qualifications  of  an  inferior  sort  is  likely 
to  be  preferred  to  the  broad-gauge  candidate  whose  claims 
are  of  a  more  general  nature  but  vastly  better  in  quality. 
It  is  difficult  to  resist  the  impression,  therefore,  that  com- 
missioners elected  to  designated  duties  will  usually  be  men 
of  rather  mediocre  capacity  who  happen  to  possess  some- 
thing  that  looks  to  the  voters  like  peculiar  fitness,  but 
IS  not  so  in  reaUty.     Under  no  pUn  of  local  government 

Colo^^  *"  *''*  ^'^^^  *"  '^n»'  MMMudHurtt^  ud  la  Qnod  Janetion. 


8M 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Merita  of 
thecom- 
nuHion 
fonn  of  csty 


ment. 


ought  a  second-rate  engineer  to  be  preferred  to  a  first-rate 
lawyer  or  physician  or  banker  or  mechanic  as  supervisor 
of  streets ;  yet  he  undoubtedly  would  have  some  advantage 
over  the  latter  in  any  electoral  contest  where  special  quali- 
fications happen  to  be  thrust  into  the  foreground.  To 
look  for  specialir*>d  skill  in  the  individual  commissioners 
is  to  impair  one  of  th?  strong  features  of  the  whole 
commission  j  'au,  which  is  the  combination  of  strictly  ama- 
teur with  stj!ct?y  expert  ;^  dministration,  each  operating  in 
its  proper  sphere. 

In  its  actual  working  the  new  system  has  shown  itself 
possessed  of  many  advantages.    Of  these  the  most  strik- 
ing one,  of  course,  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  plan  puts 
an  end  to  that  mtolerable  scattering  of  powers,  duties,  and 
responsibiUties  which  the  old  type  of  city  government  pro- 
moted to  the  point  of  absurdity.   By  enabhng  public  attention 
to  focus  itself  upon  a  narrow  and  well-defined  area,  it  al- 
lows the  scrutiny  which  voters  apply  to  the  conduct  of  their 
representatives  to  be  real,  and  not,  as  heretofore,  merely 
temSl^'    P®^"'^*'*o'y-    The  system  does  x<ot  guarantee  that  a  city's 
■poDMbiiitjr.  administration  shall  be  always  free  from  good  ground  for 
criticism,  —  no  system  can  do  that ;  but  it  does  guarantee 
that,  when  the  administration  is  faulty,  there  shall  be  definite 
shoulders  upon  which  to  lay  the  blame.    Under  the  com- 
mission plan  the  responsibility  cannot  be  bandied  back  and 
forth  in  shuttlecock  fashion  from  mayor  to  council  and  from 
the  council  to  some  administrative  board  or  oflicer.    Issues 
cannot  be  clouded  by  shifty  deals  among  several  authorities. 
In  thus  eliminating  a  chaos  of  checks  and  balbnces,  another 
name  for  which  is  friction,  confusion,  and  irresponsibility, 
the  new  framework   removes    from    the    government    of 
American  cities  a  feature  which,  to  say  the  least,  has  in 
practice  been  unprofitable  from  first  to  last. 

Sponsors  of  commission  government  assured  us,  even  b&- 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  BY  A  COMMISSION 


305 


fore  the  plan  had  had  a  fair  trial,  that  they  proposed  a  scheme  2.  Maxe. 
of  organization  which  would  give  cities  a  business  adminis-  SrthSi 
tration.    They  pointed  out  that  the  management  of  a  city's  P<>««biein 
affairs  is  not  government,  but  business.    The  so-termed  StoSS^' 
city  government,  they  urged,  is  not  primarily  a  maker  of 
laws  and  ordinances.    It  is  a  body  which  combines  in  one 
the  work  of  a  construction  company,  of  a  purveyor  of  water, 
sewerage  facilities,  and  fire  protection,  of  an  accountmg  and 
auditing  corporation,  of  the  people's  agent  in  dealings  with 
public  corporations,  and  so  forth.    Its  day-by-day  functions 
can  scarcely,  by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination,  be  termed 
political  or  governmental.     Go  through  the  records  of  a 
city-council  meeting  and  catalogue  the  items  that  can  be 
classed  as  legislation,  or  that  can  in  any  way  be  said  to  de- 
termine broad  questions  of  administrative  policy.    The  list 
will  be  very  short  indeed.    By  far  the  greater  part  of  a 
council's  proceedings  have  to  do  with  matters  of  routine 
administration  which  differ  slightly,  if  at  aU,  from  the  ordi- 
nary operations  of  any  large  business  concern.    Now,  no 
business  organization  could  reasonably  hope  to  keep  itself 
out  of  the  hands  of  a  receiver  if  it  had  to  do  its  work 
with  any  such    clumsy   and    complicated    machinery   as 
that  which  most  American  cities  have  had  imposed  upon 
them.    What  would  be  thought  of  a  business  corporation 
that  intrusted  the  conduct  of  its  aflfairs  to  a  twin  board  of 
directors  (one  board  representing  the  stockholders  at  large 
and  the  other  representing  them  by  districts),  and  gave  to 
an  independently  chosen  general  manager  some  sort  of  veto 
power  over  them,  besides  subjecting  his  appointments  to 
their  concurrence?    How  long,  for  example,  would  a  rail- 
road endure  this  sort  of  management  without  a  cut  in  its 
dividend  rate  and  a  demoralization  of  its  service  ?    It  is, 
of  course,  quite  true  that  a  city  is  something  more  than  a 
profit-seeking  business  enterprise.    The  affaira  of  the  mu- 


■jiiH 


306 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


•IV.I; 


nicipality  cannot  be  conducted  in  defiance  of  public  opinion, 
or  even  in  disregard  of  it ;  whereas  business  management  may 
or  may  not  bend  to  popular  pressure,  as  it  may  deem  expedi- 
ent, —  and  expediency  is  here  another  word  for  profitable- 
ness. We  have  the  testimony  of  Bismarck  that  public 
opinion  is  the  worst  foe  to  expertness  in  diplomacy;  and 
in  the  same  s^nse  it  may  be  termed  the  chief  obstacle  against 
which  expertn^. «  in  any  branch  of  pubUc  administration  has 
to  contend.  Any  system  of  government  that  from  its  very 
nature  must  yield  to  every  passing  gust  of  popular  senti- 
ment carries  a  serious  handicap.  To  measure  it  in  terms  of 
economy  or  efficiency  with  private  business  management  is 
therefore  unfair,  unless  large  allowances  be  made.  It  should 
never  be  forgotten  that  a  city  must  give  its  people  the  sort 
of  administration  they  want,  and  thnt  this  is  not  always 
synonymous  with  what  is  best  or  chea^^^st.  All  this  is  not 
to  deny,  however,  that  there  is  much  room  for  the  appli- 
cation of  so-called  business  principles  in  city  administration, 
or  that  measures  which  simplify  administrative  machinery 
always  promote  greater  efficiency.^ 
s.  ReduoM  The  system  of  city  government  by  commission,  it  is  con- 
tended, enables  a  city  to  conduct  its  business  promptly  and 
without  undue  friction.  There  may  be  wisdom  in  a  multi- 
tude of  counsellors,  but  the  history  of  those  municipalities 
which  maintain  large  deliberative  bodies  seems  to  warrant 


tntiva 
frietioa  and 
ddiqr. 


*  It  is  to  be  feared  that  many  oommisaion-govemad  eitifla  have  aUowed 
themselves  to  be  deluded  into  the  idea  that  the  mere  establishment  of  the 
new  system  is  a  guarantee  of  thorough  improvement  in  the  methods  of 
oonducting  public  business.  Many  commission  charters  seem  to  take  it  tat 
granted  that  any  able-bodied  citizen  can  be  transformed  into  a  municipal 
expert  by  popular  vote,  and  that  the  mere  act  of  putting  the  whole  con- 
duct of  the  city's  business  into  the  hands  of  five  men  who  bear  appropriate 
titles  wiU  secure  a  complete  change  from  slovenly  to  efficient  methods. 
At  any  rate,  commission  charters  are  too  commonly  deficient  in  the  matter 
of  making  definite  provisions  for  the  employment  of  genuine  skill  in  the 
various  departments  undo*  the  supervision  <d  the  deetive  e<HnmiaaioB»s. 


CITY  QOVBRNMENT  BY  A  COMMISSION 


307 


the  impression  that  this  collective  wisdom  is  not  of  very 
high  grade.  Unwieldy  councils  have  been  put  upon 
American  cities  under  the  delusion  that  democracy  some- 
how associates  itself  with  unwieldiness.  There  is  a  no- 
tion in  the  public  mind,  and  it  is  as  deep-seated  as  it  is 
illusive,  that  a  body  caimot  be  representative  unless 
it  is  large  to  the  pitch  of  uselessness  for  any  effective 
action.  Even  deliberative  bodies,  however,  reach  a  point 
of  diminishing  returns,  and  American  municipal  experience 
seems  to  show  that  this  point  is  not  fixed  very  high. 
Prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  charter  amendments  of  1909 
the  city  council  of  Boston  contained  eighty-eight  members ; 
the  board  of  aldermen  had  thirteen  members  elected  at 
large,  and  the  common  council  seventy-five,  elected  three 
from  each  of  the  twenty-five  wards  of  the  city.  If  mere 
numbers  give  a;  ;-  assurance  of  sagacity  or  care  for  the  public 
well-being,  this  body  should  have  afforded  that  doctrine  some 
exemplification.  But  in  point  of  fact  the  council  gave  "no 
serious  consideration  to  its  duties" ;  it  was  "dominated  by 
spoilsmen" ;  its  efforts  were  "often  directed  to  the  pecuni- 
ary benefit  of  its  members" ;  and  the  councillors  were,  for  the 
most  part,  men  who  were  "not  truly  representative  citizens 
and  would  not  be  elected  if  their  constituents  knew  the  facts 
and  could  vote  for  any  one  else."  From  the  viewpoint  of 
facility  in  expediting  business,  an  interesting  commentary' 
upon  the  way  in  which  the  city  council  was  organized 
is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  it  maintained  forty-two 
standing  committees,  not  half  of  which  met  even  once  a 
year.  Its  work  on  the  annual  appropriations  consisted 
of  little  more  than  a  series  of  studied  attempts  to  raise 
the  estimates  to  the  maximum  figures  permitted  by  law, 
especially  in  those  departments  which  had  the  largest 
patronage.  Its  alleged  "deliberations"  were  mainly  de». 
ultory  talk  upon  matters  that   did  not  come  within  its 


iH 


308 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Theshort- 
cominga 
of  largie 
eoundU. 


jurisdiction,  such  as  the  conduct  of  departmental  heads, 
the  letting  of  contracts,  and  the  hiring  of  city  laborers. 
For  the  salaries  of  aldermen  and  counciUors,  office  ex- 
penses, wages  of   clerks,  stenographers,    and  messengers, 
and  for  other  charges,  the  city  of  Boston  paid  out  nearly 
$100,000  per  annum,  a  large  part  of  which  was  sheer  waste.* 
What  has  been  said  of  the  old  council  in  Boston  may 
be  said  without  much  reservation  of  all  large  bicameral  city 
councils.    They  are  ill  adapted  to  the  work  which  they  are 
expected  to  do.    To  say  that  they  display  greater  regard  for 
the  interests  of  the  people,  or  more  conservative  judgment 
in  the  handling  of  questions  of  policy,  than  do  small  councils 
of  five,  seven,  or  nine  men  is  to  talk  arrant  nonsense.    The 
history  of  large  councils  is  m  general  httle  more  than  a  rec- 
ord of  political  manoeuvring  and  factional  intrigueiy,  with 
a  mastery  of  nothing  but  the  art  of  wastmg  time  and  money. 
A  council  of  some  half-dozen  men  oflfers  at  least  the  possibility 
of  despatch  in  the  handUng  of  city  affairs ;   for  its  smaU  size 
removes  an  incentive  to  fruitless  debate,  and  affords  little 
opportunity   for  resort  to  those  subterfuges  in  procedure 
which  serve  mainly  to  create  needless  friction  and  delay. 
4.  Improves      But  the  chief  merit  urged  in  behalf  of  the  commission  plan 

the  quality  i    .  i     .    .,  ^'•— « 

«rfmumcip«i  *8  ^o«^  tbat  It  concentrates  responsibility  and  permits  the 
officer..  application  of  business  methods  to  the  conduct  of  a  city's 
affairs,  important  as  these  things  are.  In  the  last  analysis, 
municipal  administration  is  as  much  a  question  of  men  as 
of  measures.  Tocqueville  once  said  that  in  his  time  the 
men  of  Massachusetts  could  prosper  under  any  sort  of  con- 
stitution; and  even  to-day  the  cities  of  England  manage  to 
secure  efficient  and  economical  admmistration  under  a 
system  that  seems  on  its  face  excellently  adapted  to  promote 
inharmony  and  extravagance.  Efficiency  in  city  adminis- 
tration may  be  assisted  by  one  form  of  local  government 
>  Boston  finance  Comminion.  Beportf,  IL  196  ff.  (1900). 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  BY  A  COMMISSION  309 

or  retarded  by  another,  but  in  the  long  run  it  is  not  less  a 
question  of  personnel  than  of  poUtical  framework.    Much 
depends,  accordingly,  upon  the  answer  to  the  query  whether 
tha  commission  form  of  government  does  or  does  not  offer  any 
assurance,  or  even  a  reasonable  prospect,  that  it  wiU  tend  to 
install  better  men  in  the  city's  posts  of  power  and  responsibil- 
ity. This  is,  af*er  aU,  the  crucial  question ;  and  the  advocates 
of  the  system  answer  it  unequivocally.    The  plan  will,  they 
feel  certain,  serve  to  secure  better  men.    Indeed,  it  can 
hardly  help  doing  do,  .hey  assure  us ;  for  it  is  ahnost  a  com- 
monplace of  poUtical  experience  that  the  caUber  of  men  in 
public  office  is  closely  related  to  the  amount  of  power  and 
authority  which  they  exercise.    When  power  is  scattered 
among  many  officers  of  government,  no  more  of  it  is  likely 
to  faU  to  the  share  of  each  one  than  might  quite  safely  be 
intrusted  to  a  man  of  mediocre  ability;  and  when  authority 
can  safely  be  given  over  to  men  of  this  type  it  ahnost  cer- 
tainly wiU  be.    Men  of  little  experience  and  less  capacity 
have  found  it  easy  to  get  themselves  elected  to  membership 
m  large  city  councils,  for  the  reason  that  their  presence 
there  could,  even  at  the  worst,  do  little  harm,  owing  to  the 
numerous  statutory  che     -  put  upon  the  councU's  power. 
When  membership  in  a  city  councU  means  the  exercise  of 
no  more  than  one  seventy-fifth  part  of  less  than  one-third  of 
a  city  government's  jurisdiction,  it  is  not  surprismg  that  the 
post  of  councillor  appeals  only  to  men  whose  standing  in 
the  community  is  neghgible.    If,  on  the  other  hand,  aU 
mumcipal  authority   can  be  massed  in  the  hands  of  five 
men,  each  of  these  individuals  has  an   opportunity  to 
become  a  real  power  in  the  community,  which  is  the  only 
motive  that  wiU  draw  capable  men  to  the  council-board. 
Finally,  as  the  sponsors  of  the  commission  plan  remind  us, 
large  councils  mean,  as  a  rule,  the  election  of  councillors  by 
wards  or  by  petty  districts,  a  method  that  has  proved  itself 


810 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


•I 


i 


Hm  im- 
provement 
in  the 


a  tolerably  certain  way  of  securing  inferior  men ;  whereas  a 
small  council  can  be  chosen  at  large,  on  ballots  that  have  no 
partisan  designations,  and,  if  so  desu^,  by  some  system  of 
preferential  voting. 

Now,  the  line  of  argument  outlined  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph sounds  reasonable,  and  it  may  be  that  in  the  two 
d^'^MM  li'Midred  or  more   cities  which  have  adopted  commission 
t««M»-       government  a  marked  improvement  in  the  quality  of  elective 
office-hold'>rs  has  on  the  whole  been  secured.    Either  to  prove 
or  to  disprove  this  proposition  by  trying  to  find  out  what 
changes  have  taken  place  in  all  these  cities  would  be  a 
difficult  undertaking;    but  an  examination  of  ten  impor- 
tant municipalities    now   governed   under   the   new   plan 
discloses  the  fact  that,  out  of  the  fifty  commissioners  at 
present  in  office,  no  fewer  than  thirty-five  were  public  offi- 
cials in  these  places  before  the  commission  system  was  in- 
troduced.    This  showing  seems  to  carry  the  implication 
that  the  plan  is  not  revolutionary  in  regard  to  the  type 
of  official  brought  into  service.      It  would,  perhaps,  be 
more  in  accord  with  the  actual  facts  to  say  that  the  intro- 
duction of  the  simplified  form  of  municipal  organization 
proves  its  usefulness  not  so  much  in  drafting  a  better  class 
of  men  into  public  office  as  in  permitting  the  same  men  to 
achieve  better  results.    It  is,  at  any  rate,  the  testimony  of 
those  who  have  served  imder  both  the  old  plan  and  the  new 
that  the  latter  gives  greater  opportunity  and  greater  in- 
centive ;  and  it  is  the  experience  of  those  cities  which  have 
been  under  commission  arrangements  for  several  years  that, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  effect  upon  the  personnel  of 
the  administration,  the  change  has  had  a  salutary  influence 
upon  the  whole  tone  of  municipal  affairs.    The  evidence 
on  this  point  is  too  extensive,  and  comes  from  too  many 
authoritative  sources,  to  be  questioned.* 

I  See  ref  menoes  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


CITY  OOVBRNMBNT  BY  A  COMMISSION  311 

On  the  Other  hand,  the  commission  type  of  city  govern-  oi„«^ 
ment  meets  with  some  objections  in  aU  parts  of  the  country    *«^^ 
According  to  its  opponents,  it  is  based  upon  a  wrong  prin^  St 
ciple  and  proposes  a  dangerous  poUcy ;  and  it  is  accordingly 
branded  as  ohgarchical,  undemocratic,  and  un-Americrn 

Inder  such  designations,  however,  it  merely  shares  company  ,  cw., 
With  almost  every  other  practical  scheme  for  the  improve-  ^iSSSl 
nent  of  municipal  administration  that  has  come  before  the 
pubhc  during  the  last  quarter^entuiy.    To  urge  that  be- 
cause  a  governing  body  is  smaU  it  must  inevitably  prove  to 
be  bureaucratic  in  its  methods  and  um^ponsive  in  its  at- 
itude,  IS  merel:  to  afford  a  typical  illustration  of  politicians' 
logic.    Whethe-  a  public  official  or  a  body  of  officials  will 
become  ohgarcnical  in  temper  depends    not    upon  mere 
numbers,  but  upon  the  directness  of  the  control  which  the 
voters  are  able  to  exercise  over  those  whom  they  put  into 
office.    And  effectiveness  of  control  hinges  largely  upon 
such  matters  as  the  concentration  of  responsibiUty  for  offi- 
cial acts,  an  adequate  degree  of  publicity,  and  the  elimim*- 
tion  of  such  features  as  party  designations,  which  serve  to 
confuse  the  issues  presented  to  the  voters  at  the  polls.    In 
act,  It  might  ahnost  be  hud  down  as  an  axiom  deducible 
from  Amencan  municipal  experience  that  the  smaUer  an 
elective  body  the  more  thorough  its  accountability  to  the 
e^torate.     If  one  brushes  away  the  shallow  sophistry  of 
those  who  urge  the  retention  of  a  large  city  councU  as  a  mLs 
of  insurmg  responsibility  to  popular  sentiment,  and  regards 
only  the  outstanding  facts  in  a  half-century  of  American 
mumcipal  history,  one  sees  pretty  readily  that  the  supporters 
of  the  old  order  aro  urging  a  high  premium  on  mediocrity 
m  public  office,  a  continuance  of  the  vice  of  sectiomdism  in 

1'kT!?."'*^°'''  •"**  "  arrangement  under  which  re- 
ponsibihty  directs  itself  to  a  few  poUtical  bosses  rather  than 
w  the  whole  municipal  electorate. 


312 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


& 


3.  Itoffen 

iioM«urity 

foraniHfe- 

Motative 

dty  govem- 

ment. 


Commission  government,  we  are  often  told,  is  inadequate^ 
representative:    five  men,  chosen  at  large,  cannot  repre< 
sent  the  varied  interests,  political,  geographical,  racial,  and 
economic,  in  any  large  municipality.    If  it  be  true  that  in 
the  conduct  of  his  local  affairs  a  voter  cannot  be  adequately 
represented  except  by  one  of  his  own  neighborhood,  race, 
religion,    politics,  and  business  interests,  then  this  criti- 
cism is  entirely  reasonable.     But  is  this  not  the  redudio 
ad  nhmrdum  of  the  representative  principle?    Would  not 
a  recognition  of  this  doctrine  absolutely  preclude  all  chance 
of  securing  a  municipal  administration  loyal  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  and  reduce  every  iraue  to  a 
m6lie  of  sectional  and  personal  prejudices?     It  has  been 
frequently  proved  that  a  single  official,  like  the  president  of 
the  nation  or  the  governor  of  a  state  or  the  mayor  of  a  city, 
may  more  truly  represent  popular  opinion  than  does  a  whole 
congress  or  state  legislature  or  municipal  council.    Popular 
sentiment  is  not  difficult  to  ascertain  when  a  public  officer 
takes  the  trouble  to  ascertain  it.    Five  men  can  do  it  quite 
as  well  as  fifty,  and  they  are  much  more  likely  to  try.    A 
large  council  means  ward  representation,  and  ward  repre- 
sentation means  that  coimcilmen  with  narrowed  horizons 
must  determine  large  questions  of  municipal  policy.    It  does 
not  mean,  in  practice,  that  all  the  interests  of  the  elector- 
ate will  be  represented;    on  the  contrary,  it  more  often 
means  that  some  of  the  most  important  interests  will  have 
little  or  no  chance  of  representation  at  all.    As  a  matter  of 
plain  fact,  a  large  council,  with  members  chosen  from  wards, 
means  that  the  citizens  who  are  not  personally  interested 
in  ward  politics  are  quite  likely  to  be  represented  in  slim 
fashion,  if  at  all,  whereas  alert  politicians  with  selfish  in- 
terests to  serve  are  sure  to  be  grossly  over-represented. 
Large  councils  can  with  reasonable  certainty  be  depended 
upon  to  give  adequate  representation  to  one  interest  and  to 


CITY  GOVBBNMIINT  BY  A  COMMISSION  313 

that  only, -the  machine  of  the  dominant  political  party. 
That  they  secure  fair  representation  for  a  variety  of  non- 

o7r t^^r-  "  '  '"^°"  ''^'  '-  -  «^-'  outside 

"It  B  almost  a  nuudm  that  the  mua„  the  body  the  eaeier  .  ,. 
can  ,t  bemtched  ..d  Muenced."    11,™  nm.  the  ^7^  ^"^^ 
argumen  commonly  «ivanced  by  the  opponent,  of  Ihe  coZ  ^XS^ 

vice  coriwratione,  or  for  the  liquor  interests,  or  for  the  mere  *% 

It"  •""'  T"  "•"  '^"  "  °"^  "d-nin^trationX  r 
rapt  or  coerce  «ye  eouneUlors  than  «ty ;  hence,  there  i.  «rfX 

m  numbe™.  IT,,  ,r<,„ble  with  this  a,g„meW  is,  ho^^^ 
tat  .t  rest,  upon  ,  false  p^smnption.  It  ^J.  Z-S^ 
Bter  mUnence.  e«rt  them^lve.  di«ctly  upon  the  couni^ 
one  by  one,  and  hence  that,  where  a  uige  «,uncU  S^ 
tte  force,  of  corruption  or  coercion  muTSal  with  .1C 
Wyofmen     That  thi,  i.  not  the  c.«,  however,  evrZ 

veiy  wea  Large  conncih  are,  for  the  moot  part,  made  ud 
rf  men  who  owe  their  nomination  and  election  ti^Ue^ 
kader,  to  whom  they  are  under  permanent  obligatiSLl^ 

JLlfH'^  *""'"■"""""■    Afewboss«fZXe2 

„„""  *  T""^  ""*"  "'  "^  P™Po.i«on  when  t^ 
proper  mcentiveappean.  Con»rations  or  contractor,  who 
"*  to  pt  what  they  are  not  entitled  to  have  do  Mtl^ 
pm^h  the  counca  threugh  it.  member.  onX  oLT  tW 
know  the  way.  of  the  machine  too  weU  for  th.7  Th^ 

Serif  ITT'  -*•*»«"  -^y^^  '«.3 

^der  who  contreb  the  vote,  of  councilmen.    Accordingly 
^  have  to  do  with  perhap.  Jve  m«>,  not  with  fi^Mi 

vote™  and  are  con«quently  not  accounUble  to  ttem  f„ 


814 


OOVERNMINT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Meriteof 
this  objeo- 
tion. 


the  abuse  of  it.  Under  commission  government,  on  the 
contrary,  a  favornseeking  private  interest  has  to  deal  not 
with  a  few  middlemen  who  have  the  votes  of  others  to  deliver, 
but  with  five  men  who  arc  free  to  act  as  they  think  best  and 
who  act  with  the  eyes  of  the  voters  upon  them.  A  small 
council  or  commission  r-'ans  concentration  of  power,  but 
it  also  means  centralization  of  responsibility.  A  large  council 
means  an  equal  concentration  of  power,  but  of  power  that 
too  often  is  not  so  much  in  the  hands  of  the  councilmen  as 
in  those  of  a  few  outside  political  bosses  who  are  in  a  posi- 
tion to  dictate  what  the  council  shall  or  shall  not  do,  —  men 
who  have  the  power  without  the  responsibility.  Centraliza- 
tion of  power  there  will  be  in  any  case,  and  must  be  if  busi- 
ness is  to  be  conducted  with  promptness  and  efficiency.  No 
matter  what  the  frame  of  city  government  may  be,  the  domi- 
nating influences  are  pretty  sure  to  gravitate  into  the  hands 
of  a  few  men. 

The  issue  as  between  a  large  and  a  small  council  hangs, 
in  the  main,  on  the  simple  question  whether  these  few  men 
shall  be  chosen  directly  by  the  voters  at  large  and  be  di- 
rectly responsible  to  them,  or  whether  they  shall  be  political 
manipulators  without  any  direct  responsibility.  Phila- 
delphia has  a  municipal  legislature  which  comprises,  in  both 
its  branches,  190  members ;  yet  there  is  no  city  m  the  United 
States  in  which  corporate  interests,  working  throu^  a  small 
group  of  political  henchmen,  have  so  completely  and  so 
consistently  dominated  the  city  council's  attitude  upon 
questions  of  municipal  policy.  It  is  not  in  the  size  of  its 
municipal  council  that  a  city  may  reasonably  hope  to  find 
assurance  against  malfeasance  in  the  .management  of  its 
affairs,  against  the  bartering  away  of  valuable  privileges 
for  inadequate  returns,  against  the  subordination  of  the 
public  welfare  to  private  avarice.  Its  safety  lies  rather  in 
the  size  of  the  men  who  compose  the  council.    There  is  more 


CITY  OOVBRNMENT  BY  A  COMMISSION  315 

security  in  five  men  of  adequate  caUber,  working  in  the  full 
glare  of  publicity  and  directly  accountable  to  the  people  of 
the  whole  cty  than  in  ten  time,  as  many  men  of  the  type 
usually  found  m  the  ranks  of  large  municipal  council. 

Objections  have  been  urged  against  commission  govern- 
m(  nt  on  the  ground  that  it  puts  into  the  hands  of  a  single 
Hnmll  body  of  men  the  power  both  to  appropriate  and  to  spend 
pubhc  money.    Such  an  arrangement,  it  is  said,  and  said 
truly,  violates  an  established  principle  of  American  govern- 
ment which  demands  that  in  the  interest  of  economy  and 
honesty  these  two  powers  should  be  lodged  in  separate  hands, 
n  keeping  with  this  dogma,  Congress  appropriates  money 
for  the  general  expenses  of  national  government,  but  the 
executive  disburses  the  funds  so  appropriated.    The  state 
legislatures  make  appropriations,  but  the  state  executives 
apply  the  funds  as  directed.    Even  in  the  govermnent  of  the 
ISew  England  town  it  is  the  local  legislature  or  town-meeting, 
and  not  the  board  of  selectmen,  which  makes  the  amiuS 
appropnations ;  and  in  the  usual  type  of  city  administration 
the  council  grants  the  funds  and  the  executive  officials  make 
tbe  actual  outlay. 

From  this  traditional  division  of  powers  the  commission 
system  proposes  a  radical  departure.  It  commits  to  a  sin- 
gle smaU  board  the  power  of  fixing  the  annual  tax-rate,  of 
appropnating  the  revenues  to  the  different  departments, 
and  of  supervising  the  deiaUed  expenditure  of  the  funds  s<; 
apportioned.  Novel  as  this  plan  is,  it  is  not  necessarily 
either  dangerous  or  objectionable  on  that  account.    Many 

novelfeatureshavecomeintoAmericangovemmentalmethods 
wuhm  comparatively  recent  years, -the  Australian  baUot. 
lor  example,  civil-service  reguktions,  direct  primaries,  the 
initiative  referendum,  andrecaU,  pubUcutilities commissions, 
etc. ;  and  aU  have  had  to  meet  the  cry  that  they  involved 
departure  from  the  time-honored  way  of  doing  things  in  this 


4.ItvioU(M 

•  MMIlld 

Prineiplaof 

byeoaen- 

tratiiiitlM 

•ppraprio- 

insuidtlM 

■pending 

powenia 

thei 


latUtft 
tk«r 


Hi 


816 


OOVERNMBNT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


i:t 


IE? 


country.  Moreover,  the  fudon  of  appropriating  and  spend> 
ing  powers  in  the  organization  of  city  government  is  not 
unprecedented.  This  very  principle  b  at  the  foundation  of 
the  English  municipal  system ;  and,  as  the  world  knows,  it 
has  proved  in  operation  neither  a  source  of  corruption  nor 
an  incentive  to  extravagance.  Furthermore,  those  Ameri- 
can cities  which  have  had  the  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment for  several  years  find  nothing  objectionable  in  this 
blending  of  the  two  powers;  on  the  contrary,  their  ex- 
perience with  it  seems  to  indicate  that  it  possesses  some 
important  advantages  over  the  old  plan  of  separation.  It 
appears  to  inspire  greater  care  in  making  the  appropriations, 
and  to  promote  greater  success  in  keeping  within  them  when 
made.  Under  its  influence  commission  budgets  are,  so  far 
as  recent  experience  goes,  framed  with  a  fairer  regard  for  the 
interests  of  the  v/hole  city  than  council  budgets  have  usually 
been,  and  commissions  have  unquestiotull  /  :  ot  proved  to  be 
less  capable  in  handling  expenditures  thuu  ^  are  the  uncodr- 
dinated  executive  boards  and  officials  that  formerly  had  charge 
of  such  work.  The  indictment  of  commission  government 
on  this  score  is  not  supported  by  experience.  It  is  a 
sentimental  objection,  worth  no  more  than  such  objections 
usually  are.  Ward  politicians  can,  of  course,  always  be 
counted  upon  to  sob  over  this  "departure  from  time- 
honored  American  traditions"  and  "disregard  of  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Fathers,"  till  one  unacquainted  with  their 
ways  might  almost  be  moved  to  regard  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  as  a  document  framed  for  the  self-evi- 
dent purpose  of  assuring  to  professional  politicians,  mainly 
of  alien  extraction,  an  inalienable  right  to  inflict  a  long 
train  of  abuses  upon  the  taxpayers  of  American  cities. 
One  may  add,  finally,  that  even  if  danger  should  arise 
from  this  feature  of  the  commission  form  of  government, 
yet  the  cities  which  adopt  the  system  usually  provide  a 


CITT  OOVIRNMINT  BY  A  COMMimON  817 

moan,  of  recalling  commi«ione»..  if  ni«d  be,  •.  «  addition^ 
.afojfuard  agdnirt  the  .bu«  of  power.  In  thi.  w.y  - 
Monte«,uieu  miggerted,  power  i.  nuule  .  check  to  powS 

A  much  more  «,b.t«ti«I  objection  to  the  co^on  ..  n* 
pLn  anse.  from  the  f«rt  that  it  pr«rticaUy  aboCHJ^  ^^•~"- 
office  of  mayor,  that  it  does  nnt  n«.«M*       •"""■nw  me  iagie,|,o». 
nv,««;j  «*  I     i   "■'.  .  ""*■  *">»  provide  an  apex  for  the  «taifc»to 
pyramul  of  local  adminiatration.    Now,  the  maZuty  i.  a  STTSt: 
P-t  that  ha.  ertabliahed  a  fair  tradition  in  Wet  «J  ^^^^ 
here  «  a  rational  function  for  it  to  perform.    It  rta^d.^ 
the  pubhc  unagination  a.  the  one  municipal  oC^ 
wh.ch  aU  admmirtrative  «.pon«biUty  can  be  cent«5Le? 
TolodgeaU«,ch  power  and  re«pon«bility  in  the  handaTfive 
men  «  better  than  to  put  it  in  the  hand,  of  fifty ;  but  to  pule 
most  of  It  «  the  hand,  of  one  man,  duly  ^ir^^nded  by  th. 
necessanr  .afeguarda,  is  better  rtiU.    Nearly  aU  tteT^,! 
mcnts  that  can  beadvanced  in  favor  of  the  five-head^i  «^ 
ut.ve  can  be  uiged  with  greater  cogency  for  the  ^utZ 

concentrating  aU  final  power,  of  „n  X.3  ♦    *•       .^   ' 
in  ik-  ,   "™"  P"'^®"  o*  an  adnunistrative  character 

m  the  mayor  alone.    The  .maU  council  or  commi^rioHuI 

wheelTn  ist\n"^V  --hine  without  a  b^C 
Wheel.    If  t  «  deairable  to  foUow  the  oft-quoted  example  of 

alth      K     n  T  °'«'^^'^*i°"«'  l«t  it  be  ble  in  SS  tLt 
f^thel^   and   ^icceeaful   budne.   corporatt^ 
are  m  theory  managed  by  board,  of  director.,  the  actual 

As  is  too  frequently  the  practice  of  whom  who  .timH  n.     . 

can  Lr  "^.f  P~^'^''^*>'  P~"^  «^o«  than  thel^  Z 
can  permanently  achieve.    It  i.  true  that  the  new  adm^ 

This  experiment  i.  de«riS?inE  8  B^^  J?^  Staunton,  Viisini.. 
in  American  CiHu  (S^^^  mi^i,  ^^^  '  «^«--<^  0<^m^ 


818 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


I      '. 


trations  have  set  about  redeeming  their  promises  in  encouraj^ 
ing  fashion ;  but  a  new  broom  sweeps  clean,  and  in  most  of  the 
cities  which  have  adopted  the  commission  arrangements  the 
need  of  general  municipal  housecleaning  was  such  as  to  show 
at  once  the  effect  of  even  a  slight  use  of  the  cleansing  appa- 
ratus. To  hope  that  this  or  any  other  system  will  prove  a 
self-executing  instrument  of  civic  righteousness  is,  however, 
to  avow  an  optimism  which  betokens  little  knowledge  of  man 
as  a  political  animal.  On  the  other  hand,  even  though  the 
great  simplification  of  municipal  machinery  which  the 
commission  system  of  city  government  carries  with  it  may 
not  quite  eliminate  inefficiency,  it  will  at  least  disclose  the 
shoulders  upon  which  the  onus  of  incompetence  should  Ue. 
It  will  not  extirpate  the  vice  of  partisanship  from  municipal 
elections,  or  put  the  Lidependent  candidate  for  public 
office  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  mac  who  has  an  or- 
ganized interest  behind  him.  Under  this  system,  as  under 
any  other  plan  of  democratic  government,  the  advantage 
will  rest  with  the  candidate  who  brings  to  bear  upon  the  issue 
at  the  polls  an  aggressive  organization  and  a  fatted  wallet. 
But  it  will  at  least  afford  independence  and  purely  personal 
qualifications  a  fighting  chance,  which  is  more  than  they  have 
had  under  the  old  municipal  system.  The  commission 
plan,  moreover,  links  itself  easily  with  a  dozen  features  that 
promise  improvement  in  various  branches  of  municipal 
administration,  such  as  nomination  by  non-partisan  prima- 
ries or  by  petition,  the  short  ballot  without  party  designa- 
tions, the  abolition  of  ward  representation,  preferential 
voting,  the  merit  system  of  appointment  and  promotion, 
the  extirpation  of  patronage,  publicity  in  all  official  business, 
uniform  city  accounting,  and  the  concentration  of  responsi- 
bility for  injudicious  expenditures  of  public  money.  It  at 
least  promises  s  frame  of  city  government  which  the  average 
voter  can  understand ;  and  a  government  that  is  to  be  re- 


CITY  aoTMNMBNT  BY  A  COMMlaSION  310 

.pondble  to  the  people  murt  flm  of  .U  be  intellipble  to 
them  However  the  co«.mi»ioa  p™pag.ad.  may  d"dop 
m  fm„«  ye^,  it  h«  at  leart  nadered  a  «alL™c^t 
directuMs  pubhc  atteation  to  the  most  unjent  need™  th^ 
Amen™  mumcipal  ,y,tem,-the  ^mpliloation  of  a  ^ 
chme  which  „  far  .00  complex  for  the  work  that  i,  h.,  to 
do.    J»f»  protest  ag«,„t  the  old  municipal  regime  it  h^ 

T;^,;  f  '  '""^  "  ^-  d-Pite  incidS  lo^ 
o^,  fulfilled  much  of  what  it,  aponaore  have  ^ 


RcraanrcM 

ment  of  oitie.  by  elective  ooaS^iTST^*^  *"  ?*  f"^'""- 
last  five  or  «x  yean.    By  fw  ttenJaS.  m^TJ  I^  "^  **"^  *^« 

more  than  the  «ip««ion.  of  partiZSon  bZ^in  fK     "?"!*?*•  •»» 
inadequate  data  or  on  no  diLuHtM  "P""®"' '»^.  >»  the  nuun  eitho-  on 

in  the  next  paragraph.  "**"»'»>«•  •PPended  to  the  books  mentioned 

of  the  sy.;e..  andl'r'^SirX^:;  fh^^I^  h"""^ 
appeared  from  the  pre«  within  the  laTS^  ,3^  ^  ^T!!.'' 
Com™  .^n  Government  in  American  cISe,  SL?^k  lo'if:  .^^'°«» » 
.nalysisof  thepUnandof  whatithaaao^TpSSS  ^'  i  H  MJL^Tffj' 
CKj,  ffowrnrnwu  by  CowmtMton  rMmH^nioHw'  .  '•  °- Macgreeor'a 
weU^ecuted.  .tudyr^TJ  ^^tSi'.  S*  '  '"••W»rat^  bat  • 
(New  York.  1910.  «d  i»utl  in  IWl  ^d  J^T,"**!:!^  "/***  ^^^  *"• 
CommM^n)eont;dn-a^Sn«itSww5.e^:t?''^^^  »» 

adminiBtrative  miracle.  wroueSTblS^rirl^'*^"''*'*'^       ^  *»>• 
A  volume  of  SeZ!STr!^^^^J''^n^''  •y-f »  m  De.  Moines 

Jo.em«,n.  by  Commit  ^^^wJSi.te.^Tmu'^  S?' 
discusmona  on  Mveral  ohaMi  nf  D..  —k^T^  ^  *  ^®**^'  «>nt*m 

%s  of  variou.  «ri;;£s.im  .sisrsiSLm  s^^••™^- 

newspapwB.    In  the  A»fud^  -/  .i    ™«»Mne8.  and  ftom  the  columns  of 


320 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


OJtouJ  llguw.  in  n«»d  to  what  th«  oomini«ioii  form  of  govmmimt 
hM  Mtually  mjoomphihed  «•  both  loaaty  ud  of  Uttle  ■erSoeTh. 

S^I^!  ^J^f  u"  *^*  *^*»*»  «^"»'  «d  tome  of  them^ 
modeb  of  their  kmd:   but  the  reofg«u«tion  of  department.,^  S 

S^lSJ^  °""^  °'  '"'^"'P^  bookkeepin,  which  have^me  into 
£ZnI^?4  ^  ^  framework  of  government.  m«ke  it  verydifflemrto 


CHAPTER  Xm 

DIBXCr  LBOIBLATION  AND  THE  RECALL 

A  RADICAL  departure  from  the  principle  of  separation  of  oinet 
powers  in  local  government,  as  outlined  in  the  preceding  |SSS* 
chapter,  is  not  the  only  noteworthy  feature  of  political 
development  in  American  cities  during  the  last  decade. 
Qosely  connected  with  it  has  been  a  movement  which  aims  to 
provide  the  cities  with  machinery  whereby  local  legislation 
can  be  carried  to  enactment  directly  by  the  voters,  without 
theinterpositionofanyrepresentativebody.  Thismachinery 
of  direct  legisbtion  consists  of  the  initiative  and  the  manda- 
tory referendum. 

By  the  initiative  is  meant  the  right  of  a  definite  percentage  D^irition* 
of  the  voters  in  any  municipality  to  propose  charter  amend- 
ments or  ordinances,  and  to  require  that  these  shall  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  people  at  either  a  r^ular  or  a  special  election. 
If  such  a  proposal  obtains  at  the  polling  a  majority  of  the 
votes  actually  recorded  upon  it,  it  becomes  effective.  By  the 
mandatory  referendum,  (or  the  protest,  as  it  is  sometimes 
caUed)  is  meant  the  right  of  a  stated  proportion  of  the 
voters  to  demand  that  any  ordinance  passed  by  the  city 
counca  shall  be  withheld  from  going  into  force  until  the 
opinion  of  the  voters  can  be  expressed  upon  it  at  a  regular  or 
a  special  election.*    It  is,  accordingly,  a  species  of  popular 

» The  referoidam  wmetimea  takei  a  mora  ittinRoit  f<Hni.  U.  om  uodflr 
Which  meMttTM  (chiefly  charter  amendments)  mnit  in  all  cam  be  aub- 
mitted  to  the  voten,  whether  petitioned  fwornot.  ForafaUdi«ninionor 
defiiutwn«  and  of  variations  in  the  ose  of  these  twms,  see  B.  P.  Oberhtritisr'a 
Referendum,  IniHaHve,  and  Beeaa  in  Amtriea  (neved..  New  York.  Mil) 
especially  chs.  it,  bt.-zt. 

T  S31 


^nm 


liiiiiiiifiiiiii  ir    M 


322 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


*): 


1' 


pi 


i 


Rctaoiufor 
the  develop- 
ment of 
direct-legi»- 
Ution 
metbocb. 


Decline  in 
the  caliber 
diepment- 
•tivM. 


veto.    If  a  majority  of  the  vote  polled  upon  such  an  ordinance 
is  in  the  negative,  the  ordinance  does  not  go  into  effect. 

The  rapidity  with  which  these  so-termed  newer  agencies 
of  democracy  have  been  taken  into  use  by  cities  throughout 
the  United  States  is  one  of  the  most  significant  political 
phenoniena  of  this  generation ;  for,  however  opinions  may 
differ  as  to  the  merits  and  defects  of  direct  legislation  or  as 
to  its  compatibility  with  representative  government,  it  is 
at  all  events  not  to  be  denied  that  the  initiative  and  referen- 
dum have  already  gained  a  remarkable  grip  upon  the  public 
confidence  throughout  large  sections  of  the  country.  For 
this  growth  in  popular  favor  a  twofold  reason  may  be 
assigned.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  an  omen  of  a  declining 
faith  in  the  integrity  and  good  judgment  of  elective  law- 
makers.' The  quaUty  of  the  men  who  make  the  ordinances 
in  American  cities,  including  ordinances  which  carry  appro- 
priations and  grant  public  privileges,  has  steadily  declined 
during  the  last  half-century.  Some  of  the  reasons  for  this 
deterioration  have  already  been  discussed  in  a  general 
way,  but  the  fundamental  causes  are  too  complex  to  per- 
mit any  statement  of  them  in  concise  form.  At  any  rate, 
the  symptoms  of  decline  are  too  obvious  to  require  any 
testimony  in  regard  to  their  existence ;  the  public  has  be- 
come only  too  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  men  who  secure 
election  to  the  coimcilsof  American  cities  cannot  nowadays  be 
trusted  to  exercise  final  authority  in  matters  of  local  legis- 
lation. Instead,  however,  of  adopting  measures  calculated 
to  remedy  this  trouble  at  its  exact  location  by  improvir^  fhe 
caliber  of  councilmen,  a  hundred  or  more  cities  have  had  re- 
sort to  the  more  drastic  step  of  taking  away  from  these 
officials  their  final  ordinance  powers.    In  other  words,  they 

>  For  a  diaonsdon  of  thii  fMture,  lee  the  iiutraotive  olM|>ter  on  "TIm 
Decline  of  Legislatures "  in  E.  L.  Oodkin'a  Utrfortttn  TcfidmetM  ^ 
Democracy  (Boston,  1898). 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION  AND  THE  RECALL 


323 


are  trying  to  secure  proper  administration  of  a  trust,  not  by 
changing  the  trustees,  but  by  reducing  the  powers  which  the 
trustees  may  exercise. 

In  the  second  place,  the  representatives  of  the  people  have 
themselves  fostered  the  popularity  of  the  referendum  by 
training  the  voters  in  its  use.  Both  the  state  legislature  and 
tiic  city  council  have  had  to  do  their  work  of  legislation 
under  serious  handicaps.  Apart  from  their  deficient  per- 
sonnel, they  have  had  to  contend  with  a  system  of  organizar 
tion  and  procedtire  which  almost  absolutely  precludes  satis- 
factory results  in  the  enactment  of  laws  and  ordinances.  To 
be  a  smooth-working  and  effective  ordinance-making  body, 
a  city  council  must  have  both  leadership  and  clearly  defined 
powers;  but  in  most  cases  it  has  neither.  Consequently, 
there  is  opportunity  for  obstruction,  intriguery,  and  all 
manner  of  log-rolling  tactics ;  irrelevant  issues  are  liable  to 
be  dragged  into  matters  imder  consideration ;  and  covncil- 
men  often  find  that  the  only  way  to  avoid  antagonizing  some 
important  sectionof  the  electorate  is  to  turn  the  whole  matter 
over  to  the  voters  for  their  decision.  In  both  state  and 
city  the  referendum  has  thus  become  an  expedient  for  the 
evasion  of  responsibility  by  those  legislators  whose  first  care 
is  for  their  own  political  futures.  At  first  a  very  exceptional 
procedure,  the  practice  of  passing  bills  and  ordinances  with 
a  referendum  clause  attached  has  become  a  sort  of  line  of  least 
resistance  in  the  solution  of  difficult  legislative  problems.^ 
The  voters  have  been  taught  to  believe  that  they  alone  can 
settle  such  matters  satisfactorily;  and,  having  had  this 
function  intrusted  to  them  as  a  matter  of  policy,  they  have 
come  to  demand  it  as  a  right. 

Despite  a  prevalent  impression  to  the  contrary,  direct 

'  A  lood  8urv«7  at  tiM  optional  lefemidiiin  mi^  be  found  in  B.P.OlMr- 
holtzer'a  Rtfermdunt,  InitkitiM,  and  BtaM  in  Amtriea  (Now  Toric,  1011), 

oh.  viiL 


TheuMof 
the  referen- 
dum gImim 
inordinary 
■Ututea. 


Oiifinof 
the  initio 
tiTeand 
Mietendiua 


324 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Their  Mriy 
uaeinthe 
adoption  of 
Americui 
•tmto  eoD- 
•titutiuM, 


ESstenaioii 
to  ordinuy 
legiaUtioo. 


legislation  is  not  new  either  in  principle  or  in  pnotiee. 
The  initiative  and  referendum  are  new  names  for  very  old 
institutions ;  for,  so  far  as  there  was  legislation  at  all  in  early 
democracies,  it  was  direct  legislation.    As  agencies  of  law- 
making, both  features  have  existed  in  Switzerland  for  a 
long  time;   and  even  in  America  they  are,  as  applied  to 
constitutional  matters,  among  the  oldest  of  indigenous  in- 
stitutions.   As  early  as  1777  the  first  constitution  of  the  state 
of  Georgia  gave  the  people  the  exclusive  right  to  prop<Me 
constitutional  amendments;    and  other  eighteenth-century 
frames  of  government,  including  those  of  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  and  New  Hampshire,  established  a  sort  of  po- 
tential initiative  by  reserving  to  the  people  the  right  to  give 
instructions  to  their  representatives.     Massachusetts  used 
the  referendum  in  the  adoption  of  her  first  constitution  in 
1779,  and  before  long  the  practice  of  ratifying  constitutions 
and  constitutional  amendments  in  this  way  became  almost 
universal  throughout  the  country.    But  even  yet  its  use 
is   not  everywhere   mandatory   as  regards  constitutional 
changes,  for  three  states  of  the  Union  have  altered  their 
constitutions  without  popular  approval  within  the  last  two 
decades.* 

The  use  of  the  referendum  as  part  of  the  machinery  of 
ordinary,  as  distinguished  from  organic,  law-making  also 
began  at  a  comparatively  early  date  in  American  history.  In 
1825  the  legislature  of  Maryland  submitted  to  the  voters  of 
that  state  a  law  providing  for  the  establishment  of  free 
primary  schools,  and  made  the  measure  operative  as  soon 
as  the  electors  should  have  pronounced  their  approval  of 
it.    Other  states  followed  the  example,  till  in  the  course  of 


,<ii*i 


<  South  Carolina  in  1805,  Delaware  in  1897,  and  THiiMa  in  1902. 
The  beat  aoooimt  of  the  devdopment  of  the  oonatitational  nferandom 
is  that  given  in  W.  F.  Dodd'a  fievjnon  and  Amendntent  of  8M4  C«iuMw 
tiotu  (Baltimore,  1910). 


oMw. 


DIBBCT  UBOI8LATION  AND  THB  RECALL         326 

time  it  became  the  practice  to  insert  in  state  constitutions  a 
provision  requiring  legislatures  to  submit  to  the  people  all 
matters  that  came  within  certain  categories,  as,  for  instance, 
changes  in  the  location  of  the  state  capital,  alterations 
in  the  suffrage  requirements,  measures  pledging  the  credit 
of  the  state,  and  modifications  in  the  system  of  taxation. 
Such  classes  of  matters  upon  which  the  will  of  the  electorate 
must  be  ascertained  before  new  laws  affecting  them  can  go 
into  force  have  steadily  increased,  until  in  some  states  they 
embrace  a  wide  range  of  important  subjects.* 

From  the  states  the  referendum  passed  to  use  in  the  cities.  AmUe*  to 
Local  antagonism  to  the  practice  of  legislative  interference 
with  city  affairs  led  to  the  insertion  in  state  constitutions  of 
various  provisions  forbidding  changes  in  city  charters  with- 
out the  approval  of  the  voters  in  the  municipalities  concerned ; 
and  even  when  such  provisions  were  not  put  into  the  con- 
stitutions, it  nevertheless  became  customary  for  legislatures 
to  submit  city  charters  to  popular  vote  before  enacting 
them  into  law.  In  due  course  the  list  of  matters  to  which 
this  policy  applied  waa  extended  to  include  not  only  charters, 
but  also  many  other  matters  of  general  municipal  poliqr. 
When  state  laws  provided  changes  in  municipal  boundaries, 
or  changed  the  legal  status  of  a  mimicipality,  or  authorized 
the  issue  of  bonds  on  the  credit  of  the  city,  or  gave  some 
public-service  corporation  a  franchise,  it  came  to  be  the 
practice  of  the  legislature  to  attach  to  such  measure  a  clause 
providing  for  its  reference  to  the  municipal  voters  before 
it  should  become  operative.  The  adoption  of  the  local- 
option  policy  in  regard  to  the  sale  of  intoxicants  also  carried 
with  it  a  large  extension  of  the  custom  of  •"ibmitting  ques- 
tions of  local  importance  to  the  voters  of  the  municipaUties 

>  The  entire  list  may  be  found  in  F.  J.  Stimaon's  Ftderal  and  Slate 
ConatitutUma  ef  tke  VniUd  SUxUt  (BoBton,  1908),  enwdally  pp.  279-283. 
341-359. 


838 


OOVBRNMENT  OF  AMSRICAN  CITIIS 


EHlyoM 

of  the 
initiktiTe. 


for  their  decision.*  It  has  come  to  pass,  accordingly;  that  in 
many  states  the  municipal  voters  look  upon  their  privilq;e 
of  deciding  such  matters  as  a  sort  of  inalienable  right ;  and 
in  some  jurisdictions  it  is  actually  a  right,  guaranteed  to 
them  by  provisions  in  the  state  constitution. 

The  use  of  the  initiative  in  the  process  of  ordinary  legisla- 
tion did  not  come  until  the  referendum  had  gained  a  firm 
footing.  Although  recognized  as  a  method  of  changing  con- 
stitutions, it  was  rarely  used  in  this  domain.  In  the  making 
of  ordinary  laws,  however,  a  field  in  which  it  never  had  overt 
recognition  until  recent  years,  it  was  employed  somewhat 
more  commonly ;  for  the  initiative  sometimes  afforded  the 
only  agency  through  which  a  certain  type  of  laws  could  be 
secured.  When,  for  example,  a  state  constitution  prohibited 
the  legislature  from  enacting  special  laws  for  individual 
cities,  there  seemed  to  be  only  two  ways  of  providing  munici- 
palities with  charters.  One  was  to  enact  a  general  law 
appljring  to  all  cities  of  whatever  size,  a  ctystem  open  to 
grave  practical  objections.  The  other  was  to  provide  by 
general  statute  that  each  city  might,  under  proper  safeguards, 
propose  and  adopt  its  own  charter.  This  plan,  commonly 
known  as  the  home-rule  charter  system,  brought  the  initiative 
into  real  activity;  for  it  proceeded  on  the  principle  that 
a  certain  number  of  registered  voters  should  by  means  of  a 
petition  take  the  first  official  step  toward  the  enactment  of 
a  city's  organic  law.'  The  adoption  of  the  home-rule  charter 
system  by  Missouri  in  1875  may,  therefore,  be  said  to  have 
brought  the  initiative  directly  to  the  front  as  an  agency  of 
ordinary  local  legislation.  The  first  establishment  of  the 
institution  on  a  state-wide  basis,  however,  came  in  South 


*  See  the  chapter  on  "The  Refarmdam  on  Local  Option  liqnor  Lam" 
in  E.  P.  Oborholtzer's  Referendum,  IniHatut,  and  BeeaU  in  AmeriM  (N«ir 
Tork,  1911). 

*  See  above,  pp.  61-72. 


■■tt 


DIRICT  LIOISLATION  AND  THl  RECALL         327 

Dakota  during  1808;   and  sinee  that  time  it  has  gained 
recognition  in  ten  other  atatee  of  the  Union.* 

Hand   in   hand  with   the  spread   of  direct-legislation  vu^tkm 
provisions  in  these  various  sUtes  has  gone  the  acceptance  ^SS^ 
of  similar  arrangements  in  a  large  number  of  American  *^ 
cities,  where  the  movement  has  gained  impetus  from  the 
propaganda  for  the  simplification  of  municipal  machinery. 
The  spread  of  commission  government,  for  example,  has 
given  the  initiative  and  referendum  much  of  their  vogue  so 
far  as  the  fidd  of  local  administration  is  concerned.'    To 
be  more  exact,  one  should  periiaps  say  that  each  movement 
has  helped  the  other.    A  system  of  city  government  by  a 
small  commission  appeared,  when  it  was  first  proposed, 
to  possess  large  possibilities  of  danger  through  concentration 
of  final  powers  in  a  very  few  hands ;  and  it  probably  would 
not  have  secured  approval  in  so  many  cities  if  no  departure 
had  been  made  from  the  original  Galveston  type.    But  the 
sponsors  of  the  commission  plan  put  forward  the  initiative, 
referendum,  and  recall  as  instruments  whereby  the  policy  of 
lodging  great  powers  in  a  small  board  could  be  safeguarded 
against  possibility  of  abuse.    The  Des  Moines  scheme  of 
commission  government,  which  has  been  followed  by  most 
of  the  cities,  is  simply  the  Galveston  plan  plus  the  initia- 
tive, referendum,  and  recall,  together  with  provision  for 
non-partisan   methods   of   nomination.    The    commission 
plan  thus  gave  direct  l^islation  a  good  deal  of  momentum 
in  the  realm  of  city  government ;  for  of  the  two  hundred 
or  more  cities  which  have  adopted  it  the  majority  have 
accepted  direct-legislation  provisions  as  well. 

Charter  provisions  concerning  the  initiative  and  referen- 

'Utah,  1900;  Oregon.  1902;  MomtMi*,  1906;  OUahoma,  1907; 
Maine,  1908;  Miuouri.  1909;  Arkuraa  and  Colmulo,  1910;  Aruon* 
and  California,  1911.  The  exact  i»ovinona  may  be  foimd  in  C.  A.  Beaid 
and  B.  E.  Shulta's  DoeunuttU  on  the  8tat».wide  Initiatue,  lUfferendum,  and 
RceaU  (New  York,  1912).  •  See  above,  du  zU. 


^m 


wmmBBm 


OOVERNMIMT  OF  AMIRICAN  OITIlt 


Tbtm*- 

oUaeryof 

diraot 


iaaitiw. 


Initiative 
•toetiou. 


Theprotett 


dum  differ  from  city  to  city  ai  to  details,  but  their  general 
purport  is  everjrwhere  much  the  same.    They  give  the  voters 
of  a  city  the  right,  by  means  of  a  petition  bearing  a  stated 
quota  of  signatures,  to  propose  any  ordinance  or  other  local 
measure  which  comes  within  the  charter  jurisdiction  of  the 
municipality.    The  number  of  signatures  varies  from  ten  to 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  total  electorate,  but  in  some  rHies 
the  requirement  is  expressed  in  fixed  terms  and  not  as  a 
percentage.*    These  petitions  aro  filed  with  some  designated 
municipal  officer,  usually  the  city  clerk,  who  examines  the 
signatures  and  certifies  that  the  number  is  or  is  not  adequate. 
Thereupon  the  proposal  set  forth  in  the  petition  is  submitted 
to  the  voters  of  the  city  either  at  the  next  regular  election 
or  at  a  special  one  called  for  the  purpose.    The  general 
practice  is  to  submit  such  measures  at  the  regular  election, 
if  there  is  to  be  one  before  long ;  but  if  no  regular  polling  is 
scheduled  for  several  months  from  the  date  at  which  a  peti- 
tion is  presented,  a  special  election  is  usually  provided  for. 
To  become  operative,  the  measure  must  usually  receive  a 
majority  of  the  votes  polled  upon  the  question,  not  a  majority 
of  the  votes  cast  in  general.    This  is  because,  at  reguUr 
elections,  the  number  of  votes  cast  for  candidates  is  usually 
much  larger  than  the  number  recorded  upon  any  question 
submitted  to  the  electorate ;  hence,  to  require  a  majority  of 
the  general  polled  vote  would  be  to  put  the  affirmative  of 
any  specific  proposal  at  a  serious  disadvantage. 

So,  too,  with  provisions  in  city  charters  relative  to  tiie 
protest,  or  referendum.'    It  is  usually  arranged  that  no 

>  In  Memphifl,  TeniMHee,  the  petition  muit  be  aigned  by  500  voten.  A 
table  ihowing  the  pereent*?-  requirements  in  fifty  cities  is  printed  in 
E.  S.  Bradford's  CommUr  •,ovemmeiU  in  Ameriean  Citiet  (New  Y«k, 
1911),  223-233. 

'  The  ezMt  inroviaiona,  u  they  appear  in  the  charters  of  a  )ai«e  nimb«r 
of  cities,  ue  given  in  C.  k.  Beard's  DiteH  a/  ShaH  Ballot  Ckarten  (New 
York,  1911). 


DIBIOT  UBOISLATION  AND  TBI  RBCALL         320 


ordinance  or  resolution  of  the  city  council  (or  commission) 
shall  go  into  effect  for  a  certain  period  after  its  enactmoit. 
Meanwhile  a  designated  percentage  of  the  voters  may  peti- 
tion to  have  the  measure  submitted  at  the  polls ;  and,  if  the 
petition  is  found  to  comply  with  the  requirements,  it  is 
brought  forward  at  either  a  regular  or  a  special  election. 
Tlie  number  of  petitioners  necessary  in  the  case  of  routine 
ordinances  ranges  from  ten  to  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the 
whole  electorate;  but  for  ordinances  that  grant  franchise 
privileges  or  authorise  the  issue  of  bonds  a  different  require- 
ment is  frequently  provided.  Sometimes  a  smaller  percentage 
of  signatures  is  stipulated ;  or  a  charter  mny  even  require 
that  such  ordinances  shall  go  before  the  voters  without  the 
filing  of  any  petition,  —  in  othw  words,  that  a  referendum  on 
such  matters  shall  be  compulsoiy.  In  any  case,  if  the 
voters  pronounce  by  a  majority  against  an  ordinance,  it 
docs  not  go  into  effect. 

Both  the  initiative  and  the  referendum  have  been  freely  A«tuai  um 
employed  during  the  last  half-dosen  years  by  several  of  those  u^^**^ 
cities  in  which  charter  provisions  have  made  their  use  '«'•*«"<'«""• 
possible.    Portland,  Oregon,  began  in  1909  by  referring 
thirty-five   questions   to   its   voters;    Denver,   Colorado, 
followed  in  1910  with  twenty-one ;  and  during  the  last  two 
years  a  dozen  other  cities  have  joined  the  list,  each  submitting 
from  two  to  twraty  projects  at  the  annual  dection.    Subjects 
of  every  sort  are  brought  forward,  from  important  charter 
amendments  to  matters  so  trivial  that  they  seem  hardly 
worthy  of  regiilation  by  special  ordinance.*    Sometimes  the 
question  is  so  simple  and  so  plainly  worded  that  it  calls  for  no 
special  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  voters.    In  other  cases 
it  deals  with  so  complicated  a  problem  and  is  worded  so 

*  In  PontiM,  MioUgma,  for  «nHiii^,  Um  voteta  tran  last  year  aated 
to  decide  whether  bi^de  riding  ehooU  be  permitted  npoD  the  oity's 

BdewaUa. 


■!• 


880 


OOVERNMENT   OF  x\M£IUCAN  C1TII8 


t 


trickily  that  it  prescutf  a  very  difficult  task  to  the  voter 
who  has  not  an  intimate  acquaiuianee  with  the  exuot  faeti 
of  the  situation.  It  in  extremeh  haitl  to  judge  from  a  mere 
readiiu  of  such  ballots  just  how  important  are  the  matters 
l^fatttKi  upon  thftn.  Many  of  the  questions  cei  ainly  do 
not  stppear  on  th.  ir  fan-  •  o  dvnl  with  any  broad  quf^stions  of 
municipal  poHcy  ,  bn  nuerpretpd  in  the  light  of  local  coi  di- 
tiou8  they  may  ue  of  rouoh  greats  account  than  they  seem 
to  be.' 
Datkitffl  VntwithBtandinc  tht   freedom  with  which  the  ini  .ative 

fur  fcemraii-  a»d  refoi  lulum      ve  be»>ii  called  ction  by  many  cities 

durini:  i      last  lew  ywir?    it      not  yet  safe  to  make  very 
broad  prt-Jiction*  fmm  tt»     jata  »+    sand.*    The  tenden^ '' 
shown  by  \  tters  at  3  tim* 
not  always    he  ones  which 
Discuss  '"US     oncerni  ig  the 
li  ssisb  •  it>a  a r    still  lai     'y  en 


ii 
With 


or  sorn* 

*pera     ^u     a}.' 

an    in.sufTi 


me  to  CO  ne,  at 


I ,        rem  is  r  ew  to  them  a 
'  niar     tly  established. 

I!    i        and         "Cts  of  direct 
icul,  and  mu.    juntinue  to  be 

^ast  until  the  system  has  heea 


ugh  to  create  some  definite  traditio 
body  of  data  to  work  upon,  it 


only  n  stural  tha    current  ideas  as  to  the  future  of 
legi.«i  itioc  and  i^*  reaction  upon  the  representative 


shou 


differ  w 


he 

■odied  i 

Bam  " 


in  fact,  there  is  probably  no 

leatioiM  submitted  at  the  Portiand  ^ 
'rofesBor  O.  H.  HftyiMs'a  artiele  on  "Peo) 
PolUie€d  S<!ienee  Qiutrterly,  XXVI.  432-4 


'A  carefu 
of  June,  1911 
Rule  in  Mun 
(September,  !  <i 

'     list  of  over  100  questiona  rabmitted  to  the  voten  ol  twenty  AsHri- 

eaa  citi*>!»  dunnfr   he  lait  three  yesn  ahows  that  a  Iwrge  propOTtion  ti  the 

meami  -s  propf>   -d  by  the  initiative  deal  with  chanfea  in  the  graeral 

ruc!     "  of  munieipi^  guvemment  or  with  franchises.    Other  questions 

the  i<  t  conoem  sueh  matters  as  the  widening  of  a  street,  Um  rebuilding 
u.  ^  bridgv  the  uh^.  of  direct  iMrimariea,  tlie  4!d'^>r'tion  of  a  new  system  of 
ar.«it<a8inE;  -  '  estate,  the  publication  of  the  city's  financial  reports,  the 
placing  Mf  oil-  cnUector  under  bonds,  the  relaxation  of  a  rule  forbidding 
city  othcia  ,  iv    municipal  contracts,  the  increase  of  mi  i4|>pcopriatioB 

f:>r  street-p,       ^,  tbtt  buildiug  trf  a  city  hall,  uid  tlie  fi»i«g  of  work  houn 
for  city  empiuyees. 


0/  prwei.W,y  polities  diaawioB  in  n.»rf  .-    u.  v  . 
»»«  of  opinion  ^  '•'^^Za^ZTS^J^  r"^  <^'»- 

that  tlie  ditwl-l<!iri.,i„„"  J™    .         "**"  ««  thii  i, 

policy  but .  p^^*"^  rrrtr'^-  -^  ""'^  • 

thai  it  m.k»  if  „„^  ""''■»  ^«"  "P-city,  ind«d, 
begin,  with  the  .-er,ion.«St  '^r"  'u""*"" ''  '"  " 

which  .ton«.h.lleng«^W».k        "  *  •"°I«"'»» 
liov.  that  o«lin.n»..SZ^lv   *•","• '»"'' "'«'  b* 

point  that  caU,  f„,  u.,  .n^LT     fT  ^"^"^^^i  to  . 

That  wida.p„^  Z3i^^  ^'.''r"^  "-"^ 
of  ■•«i.U«on'^~"'"r"'^«;«<»-i»aormrth«^ 

«.-ly  .  n«tt,r  ,0,  ^^:   *'  ".fW  8U.«  i. 
more  egpecMJlv  the  in«ffl«;  ,  "  *"*  ^'K*'  cities 

before  thm,  i.r^J^^i„°'  ,'!f*«<«'  "*1>  come 

only  T..«,n  why  it  WM  tSLiT,  ^  "  '°"«-    Th« 

--  pnbii.  opLon  p!^^':!^"' "^^  r™  -  "- 
'"th  in  fonnulai   .CT        "*«  *•  l»  donunated  by  s 

the»p«.ti™"^iXi™;L"T^"**   "«•""- 
'be  bicamer J  ««aTZJT  "f™™*""™  ftmtion., 

'-  on  municipUrt;^:;^  rT'oftyT  "•f*^ 

.mngemenf  aa  in«it.bl,  i„„y^^,  °'''"  ^''""li'i"* 

sovennnent.    During  th.  Cl^y^'7„  "^  "  "='"' 

""»  wn  yeara,  however,  popuhir 

?eof  "TS"  (New  yU:  mi5!i?ri'ww  •  ^^•^-•^  «-  *«« 
f'or-e  (New  York,  1912).  '^"<^*  "  f^ovmment  h  AU  tk$ 


TheeoMii. 
fMewfcMb 
tUitetlicia. 


332 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Populmr 
diacontent 
with  the  cdd 
BwcUiMtjr. 


interest  in  municipal  affairs  has  been  growing  more  active 
and  more  discriminating.  It  is  coming  to  be  intolerant  of  old 
formulas  and  impatient  of  slow-working  reforms.  The 
public  temper  has  reached  the  point  of  insisting  that  the 
means  shall  be  adjusted  to  the  end,  and  it  seems  to  care  little 
whether  these  means  are  orthodox  or  not.  For  the  most  part 
it  finds  the  old  machinery  inadequate  for  the  effective  expres- 
sion of  the  new  t  nsensus,  and  the  result  is  an  impatient 
demand  for  channels  through  which  popular  sovereignty 
may  fully  and  directly  assert  itself.  When  a  considerable 
element  among  the  voters  assumes  this  attitude,  it  is  idle  to 
argue  that  for  the  flaws  of  representative  democracy  the 
people  are  themselves  in  the  last  resort  to  blame.  As  a 
syllogism  of  political  science  that  is  true  enough ;  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact  it  is  no  more  true  than  is  the  maxim  of  prac- 
tical politics  that  the  voters  will  never  blame  themselves 
for  a  failure    >  get  what  they  desire. 

Public  interest  in  what  is  going  on  at  the  city  hall  having 
become  much  more  active  in  every  American  municipality 
during  the  last  few  years,  the  shortcomings  of  the  old  munici- 
pal system  have  been  more  apparent,  and  the  electorate  has 
in  many  cases  awakened  to  the  fact  that  it  has  been  tolerating 
a  mere  travesty  of  popular  government.  Conditions  which 
have  been  shown  to  exist  in  dozens  of  municipalities  afford 
abundant  evidence  that  the  people  have  not  heea  actually 
in  control  of  their  local  representatives,  and  have  not  been 
getting  from  them  the  service  that  representatives  are 
supposed  to  supply.  The  absolute  domination  of  many 
city  councils  by  organized  inte^-ests,  whether  political  or  eco- 
nomic, has  been  established  beyond  the  slightest  reasonable 
doubt.  It  would,  indeed,  be  a  matter  for  some  surprise  if 
the  situation  had  turned  out  otherwise.  Under  a  system 
which  for  so  long  a  period  permitted  councilmen  to  be  nomi- 
nated in  party  caucuses  and  elected  by  wards  on  ballots  de* 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION  AND  THE  RECALL         333 

Signed  at  ever/  turn  to  mislead  the  votem,  there  was  no  good 
reason  for  expecting  any  better  type  of  c<;uncihnan  t^'Z 

Z L/r  ,"*'.'' °*^*'^^-  ^^ '^^ '^^ c^nS! 

to  do  thei^  w  '  .  "*r  °®""  °'  "*y  «°^«"^-t  -e«  «et 
to  do  their  work  under  a  procedure  which  rendered  aU  real 

localization  of  responsibiUty  impossible  and  precluded  1^ 

aTa^n  "  *^^/-«^0P--t  of  effective  leLerl^  tJ^ 
actual  democracy  of  city  govermnent  very  naturaUy  beclme 
m  perhaps  the  majority  of  American  cit^,  UtTmorTttn 
apkasantfiction.    The  real  work  of  framing  ordi^^^dme 
to  be  performed  at  the  party  headquartersTor  at  claldX 

atives  of  pubhc^rvice  corporations,  rather  than  by  ^e 
council  as  a  whole.*  ^     ® 

The  specific  remedies  for  this  situation  were  lomr  a«,  ^ 
pointed  out  by  students  of  municipal  governZt,  buJ  o^  -.S^ 

party  des^piations  upon  the  municipal  baUot  came  as  a  voice 

rymg  jn  the  wilderness.    It  is,  in  fact,  only  «nce  aLt74 

that  whole-hearted  attempts  have  b^  made  to  d^^ 

peded  Its  proper  workmg;  and  it  is  only  within  the  last  half- 
dozen  years  that  representative  democnwy  ha.  ^a^ 

and  free  trial  in  any  Urge  city  of  the  Sdlu^     it 
mluction  of  municipal  councils  in  si«,,  the  «^f  no^^L 

^^ZJ^'^JT^'T'  *^*  -^P^fi^'^tion  of  council 

procedure, -all  these  features  are   essential   to   pomilar 

ntrol  of  municipal  legislatures;   yet  cities  th^t  ^ 

charters  embodying  all  of  them  are  stiU  in  the  mC^ 

How.,  r*.  «„,  tt.  ji^  ^  j,„^  oLSSmw).  A^  '•  °- 


Argamenta 
fordireet 


1*  R6|m* 
■entetive 
fovwnment 
cumot  be 


vRcieiit 
without  tt 


3.  Educa- 
tive value 
•lit 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 

Where  these  features  have  gained  recognition,  the  results 
have  been  sufficient  to  warrant  the  hope  that  most  of  the 
unresponsiveness  to  public  opinion  which  has  characterized 
municipal  government  in  this  country  can  be  eradicated 
without  recourse  to  direct  legislation.    But  piecemeal  reform 
takes  time  and  requires  patience,  more  of  both,  perhaps, 
than  the  voters  of  many  cities  seem  in  their  present  temper 
ready  to  supply.    In  the  last  analysis,  the  movement  for 
installing  the  initiative  and  referendum  as  normal  agencies  of 
local  legislation  is  an  evidence  of  growing  pubLc  impatience 
with  all  measures  of  municipal  reform  which  come  in  homoeo- 
pathic doses.    In  this  respect  public  opinion  seems  to  have 
moved  forward  more  rapidly  during  the  last  ten  years  than 
it  did  during  the  preceding  fifty. 

The  first  argument  in  favor  of  direct  legisUtion  rests, 
accordingly,  upon  the  aUegation  that  existing  methods  of 
framing   municipal   policy   secure   unsatisfactory   results; 
that   representatives  do  not  and   cannot   under  present 
arrangements  represent  the  wishes  of  those  who  go  through 
the  form  of  electing  them ;  and  that  this  situation  is  not 
liktly  to  be  fundamentally  altered  save  by  piercing  the  vitals 
of  the  old  system.    To  make  representative  democracy 
fulfil  its  professed  functions,  it  is  urged,  the  electorate 
should  use  the  weapons  which  direct  democracy  supplies. 
But  the  sponsors  of  the  initiative  and  referendum  do  not  rest 
their  whole  case,  or  even  a  laige  part  of  it,  upon  this  line 
of  argument.    They  go  much  farther,  by  claiming  for  their 
proposals  many  positive  merits  which   do    not   connect 
themselves  with  the  faults  of  a  purely  representative  system. 
They  lay  stress,  for  instance,  upon  the  educative  value  of 
direct-legislation  machinery.    By  means  of  initiative  peti- 
tion'^ ti^T  teU  us,  a  spirit  of  legislative  enterprise  is  pro- 
mot-i")  Mong  the  voters;  men  are  aicouraged  to  formulate 
projiv     of  their  own,  and  to  discuss  the  projects  of  otheii 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION  AND  THE  RECALL         336 

as  soon  as  they  are  broached.  Proposab  emanating  from 
any  quarter  are  sure  to  get  their  due  share  of  public 
attention,  and  a  fair  hearing  as  weU.  If  the  city's  interests 
often  suffer  from  the  apathy  of  aU  but  the  professional  politi- 
cians, if  the  great  body  of  municipal  voters  dispby  little  inter- 
est m  the  making  of  ordinances  or  the  granting  of  franchises 
or  the  mcurring  of  indebtedness,  this  state  of  things  has  been 
brought  about,  we  aro  told,  by  the  feeling  of  utter  helplessness 
which  the  workings  of  the  old  system  have  ingr.uned  in  the 
pubhc  mind. 

To  some  extent,  at  least,  this  line  of  reasoning  leads  to  a  Aw.ke. 
proposition  that  can  adduce  much  evidence  in  its  behalf  fSH"".*"*?^ 
Without  doubt  the  enUghtened  element  in  the  l^er^^lf  """^ 
many  municipalities  is  to-day  denuded  of  aU  int-  ;est  in 
city  administration  through  sheer  discouragement.    Public- 
Bpirited  men  have  so  often  endeavored  to  make  their  reason- 
able projects  materiaUse  into  action,  they  have  so  often 
been  able  to  demonstrate  that  popuUr  sentiment  is  with 
them,  and  yet  have  so  regularly  failed  to  make  any  sub- 
stantial headway  against  well-intrenched  poUticians,  that 
many  of  them  the  country  over  have  withdrawn  in  disgust 
from  aU  participation  in  the  affairs  of  their  own  communi- 
ties, thereby  abandoning  the  field  to  those  who  are  of  all  ele- 
ments m  the  electorate  the  least  prolific  of  progressive  ideas. 
It  may  be  suggested  that  those  who  thus  quit  the  arena 
are  deficient  in  civic  patriotism;  but,  even  if  that  charge 
be  true,  it  does  not  offer  any  solution  of  the  •  )roblc.m. 
One  can  hardly  expect  to  turn  the  indifference  of  any  ele> 
toral  element  into  active  interest  by  taunting  it  with  a  lack 
of  fightmg  spirit  when  it  declines  to  wage  poUtical  warfare 
upon  grossly  unequal  terms.    Men  as  a  rule  put  forth  ideas 
and  come  out  actively  in  support  of  them,  only  when  there 
«  a  chancy  that  these  ideas  may  some  day  be  carried  to 
fruition.    Such  chance,  it  is  claimed,  the  machineiy  of 


336 


GOVERNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Howirab- 

Iteityia 

■ocund* 


direct  legislation  guarantees.  Political  thought  and  discus- 
sion  can  be  stimulated  among  all  classes  by  the  assurance 
that  any  public  project,  whatever  its  nature,  can  be  sentenced 
to  oblivion  only  by  the  direct  verdict  of  the  people.  The 
way  to  get  the  voter  interested  in  measures,  we  are  told,  is  to 
ask  for  his  opinion  upon  measures,  not  for  hb  opinion  upon 
men.  The  way  to  stimulate  him  to  active  participation 
in  the  framing  of  municipal  policy  is  to  submit  all  important 
proposals  to  him  in  person,  and  not  to  some  one  who  merely 
holds  his  proxy.  The  way  to  educate  him  in  political 
science  is  to  give  him  tasks  which  cannot  be  performed 
properly  without  knowledge.  The  educative  value  of  the 
ordinary  ballot,  where  the  suffrage  has  been  granted  to  all, 
has  been  so  fully  demonstrated  both  in  America  and  elsewhere 
that  it  is  nowadays  rarely  questioned.  To  enhance  this 
value  by  making  the  ballot  a  more  comprehensive  political 
catechism  is  what  the  friends  of  direct  legislation  are  now 
trying  to  do.  At  all  events,  they  urge,  the  initiative  and 
referendum  are  agencies  through  which  the  voter  can  be  made 
to  realize  that  he  is  a  sovereign  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name, 
that  his  responsibility  is  ultimate  and  cannot  be  shifted, 
and  that  there  are  no  concealed  obstacles  to  the  progress  of 
any  proposal  which  he  may  wish  to  put  forth  as  his  own.* 

In  harmony  with  the  stress  laid  upon  the  educative  value 
of  direct  democracy,  some  of  the  states  and  cities  which  have 
adopted  the  initiative  and  referendum  provide  for  the  print- 
ing and  distribution  of  information  in  regard  to  the  various 
questions  submitted  to  the  voter  upon  his  ballot.  This 
information  is  issued  in  pamphlet  form,  and  precautions  are 
taken  to  insure  the  publication  of  arguments  both  for  and 

>  For  a  full  diaeunioD  of  this  feature,  tee  the  paper  on  "  Dinet  ha^O*- 
tion  "  by  Proferaor  L.  J.  Johnaon,  printed  in  the  volume  of  adeeted  artidai 
entitled  The  /uiitortw,  Rrftrtndnm,  and  Rteail  (ed.  W.  B.  Munro.  New 
Ym-Ic,  1912),  oh.  vi. 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION  AND  THE  RECALL         337 

against  the  projected  measure,  equal  space  being  allowed 
to  advocates  and  opponents.     A  copy  of  the  pamphlet, 
which  thus  becomes  a  symposium  of  views,  is  mailed  to  every 
enrolled  voter,  in  the  expectation  that  he  will  give  it  study 
and  thereby  put  himself  in  a  position  to  render  an  intelligent 
verdict  at  the  poUs.    In  addition  to  these  official  pamphlets 
and   supplementary  to   them,  various   city  organizations, 
such  as  good  government  associations  or  votere'  leagues, 
put  forth  literature  on  their  own  behalf  with  a  view  to  giving 
the   voter   additional   guidance.*    Through   these   various 
channels  much  information  concerning  the  measures  to  be 
submitted  at  the  polls  is  literally  forced  upon  the  voters. 
It  is  of  course  not  improbable  that,  notwithstanding  all 
this  pamphleteering,  a  great  many  of  them  will  remain  un- 
informed through  sheer  inertia ;  yet  it  will  hardly  be  denied 
that  the  majority  of  those  who  constitute  the  electorate  are 
likely  to  know  more  about  mooted  questions  of  public  policy 
if  they  are  provided  with  all  this  controversial  literature 
than  if  t'    v  had  no  such  facilities  at  all.    There  ought  to 
be  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  tl-ose  who  have  watched  the 
workings  of  direct  legislation  in  Western  cities  during  the 
last  few  years  that  this  system  does  foster  public  interest 
in  even  the  details  of  legislative  projects;  and  such  public 
interest  cannot  be  without  some  educative  value.    But 
whether  this  interest  will  wane  as  the  system  loses  its  novdty, 
and  whether  it,  after  all,  achieves  its  real  ead  by  equipping 
the  voters  with  information  which  they  can  and  do  use 
profitably,  are  questions  that  cannot  be  fairly  answered 
at  this  stage  of  experience  with  the  new  machinery. 
It  is  sometimes  urged  that  the  use  of  direct  methods  of  8.  it 


'AgoodenunpIeofthiBtypeof  poUtiflftllitcntnra  — fteiraidHtanMd  n«wtte 
by  the  Tupitym'  Lmciw  of  Pbrtiud,  Oneon,  for  the  «ity  risotiim  at  **•*•"• 
June,  1909— iiraphnted  in  th*  Pnettdint»  of  the  NfttiouJ  MnoieiiMl 
LM«ue  for  1909.  pp.  320-325. 


338 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


legislation  would  increase  popular  respect  for  the  law.  One 
reason  why  people  often  manifest  a  deficient  regard  for  rules 
of  conduct  prescribed  either  by  statute  or  by  ordinance  may 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  many  of  such  regulations  do  not 
have  the  force  of  public  opinion  behind  them,  but  have  been 
framed  in  the  interest  of  some  influential  class  among  the 
electorate.  When  this  is  the  case,  it  is  very  difficult  to  en- 
force such  rules  properly.  The  close  and  necessary  relation 
between  law  and  public  opinion  in  all  well-ordered  com- 
munities is  something  not  to  be  gainsaid;  it  is,  therefore, 
indispensable  that  popular  sympathy  should  be  clearly  in 
line  with  the  spirit  of  an  enactment  if  the  efficient  adminis- 
tration of  it  is  to  be  insured.  Measures  put  upon  the 
statute-book  by  means  of  the  initiative  and  referendum 
would,  of  course,  bear  on  their  face  the  stamp  of  specific  pubUc 
indorsement,  and  from  this  very  fact,  it  is  contended,  might 
be  more  willingly  observed  by  the  people.  Respect  for  the 
law  has  also  suffered  somewhat  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  so 
many  measures  enacted  in  the  ordinary  way  bear  ample  testi- 
mony to  the  bad  faith  of  those  who  were  ostensibly  respon- 
sible for  their  passage.  The  prevalence  of  the  so-termed 
"  jokers,"  or  cunning  verbal  contrivances  for  defeating  the 
professed  purpose  of  a  law,  has  created  a  general  impression 
that  legislators  are  too  much  given  to  the  chicanery  of  taking 
away  with  the  left  hand  what  they  have  just  given  wit'*  the 
right.  Measures  proposed  by  initiative  petition  may  some- 
times be  crude,  it  is  admitted ;  but  they  may  at  least  be 
trusted  for  their  frankness  and  good  faith.  On  this  point  it 
is  interesting  to  compare  the  laws  that  have  been  adopted 
during  the  last  few  years  under  the  new  system  with  corre- 
sponding measures  earlier  enacted  by  the  legislature.  Those 
iol^aot  ^^°  **^®  *^®  trouble  to  make  this  comparison  will  readily 
^^in  ai'  discover  that,  for  cleara^s  of  phraseology,  conciseness,  and 
•uttttos.       general  conformance  to  the  accepted  rules  of  legal  drafting, 


DIRECT  LBOISLATION  AND  THK  BBCALL         339 

Iho  productj  of  direct  legislation  are  almost  uniformly  su- 
perior to  thnso  obtained  through  the  ordinary  channels  of 
reprfcsentative  law-making.*  It  has  been  too  frequently 
taken  for  ^t^anted  that  proposab  which  originate  with  the 
voters  will  be  put  into  shape  for  the  ballot  by  amateurs  in 
the  art  of  legal  phrasing.  It  would  probably  be  more  in 
keeping  with  the  fact,  however,  to  say  that  this  is  just  what 
happens  in  the  case  of  most  measures  which  originate  in 
representative  bodies.  The  councilman  or  the  council 
committee  that  undertakes  to  frame  an  ordinance  will  with 
reasonable  certainty  make  a  botch  of  the  task.  Prudent 
counciimen  seek  the  expert  aid  of  the  city's  law  department 
in  such  matters;  and  those  who  are  interested  in  securing 
the  popular  adoption  of  measures  initiated  by  petition  take  ' 
similar  precautions.  The  chief  difference  seems  to  be  that 
the  legal  skill  employed  in  the  latter  case  is  superior  to  that 
commonly  found  in  a  city  solicitor's  office. 

Among  the  objections  urged  against  the  system  of  direct  Amimenta 
legislation  in  municipal  government  three  or  four  come  for-  ^^ 
ward  most  frequently.  One  is  the  assertion  that  the  syrtem 
is  antagonistic  to  the  basic  principles  of  representative  gov- 
ernment,' that  the  regular  use  of  it  would  deprive  the  counuil- 
men  of  all  due  sense  of  responsibility,  and  the  result  would 
soon  manifest  itself  in  a  further  deterioration  of  the  council's 
ordinary  work;  that  it  would,  furthermore,  eliminate  the 
mayoral  veto,  and  in  taking  away  this  power  would  free  the 
mayor  from  all  responsibility  in  the  most  important  matters 


>  That  "the  atroeioiu  gnunnttf  and  pdnhil  obaoorities  to  be  found  ia 
the  texts  .  .  .  are,  with  few  exoeptiona,  (in]  legialatiTe,  not  initiative, 
measures,"  is  the  oonolasion  of  those  who  have  gone  oarefolljr  throui^  a 
great  deal  of  this  materiaL  See  C.  A.  Beard  and  B.  E.  BbvdtM,  DoeumenU 
on  the  Stale-wide  InUiative,  R^trmdum,  and  Rteatt  (New  York,  1912),  p.  vi. 

'  See  the  article  on  "  Representative  as  ag^nat  Direet  Cktvenunoit"  hj 
Congressnum  Samuel  W.  MoCall,  in  AOarOie  Monthly,  Oetober,  1911; 
and  the  reply  by  Senator  Jonathan  BoonM,  Jr.,  ibid.,  January,  1912. 


^^ 


340 


OOVERNMKNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITII8 


I.  It  imiMin  brought  before  the  city  government.    Poorer  counciknen  and 
ofrepnMBt.  poorer  mayors,  it  u  predicted,  would  be  the  inevitable  out- 
•**^'*         come.    Now,  this  is  an  objection  which  cannot  be  li^tly 
set  aside ;  for,  if  there  is  any  maxim  that  American  political 
experience  seems  to  establish,  it  is  the  doctrine  which  closely 
relates  the  quaUty  of  elective  officials  to  the  degree  of  finftl 
power  committed  to  them.    For  a  half-centuiy  or  more  the 
decline  in  the  personnel  of  municipal  councils  has  gone  step 
by  step  with  the  reduction  of  the  local  powers  intrusted  to 
these  bodies.    When  the  selection  of  incompetent  officials 
does  not  bring  substantial  penalties  upon  the  people  in  the 
shape  of  heavier  tax-rates,  or  of  increased  indebtedness,  or 
in  some  other  visible  form,  men  of  such  stamp  are  very 
likely  to  find  their  way  into  office;  for  municipal  councils 
cannot  b«»  shorn  of  their  powers  without  the  result  showing 
itself  in  a  slackened  popular  interest  at  council  elections 
and  a  consequent  increase  in  the  ease  with  which  men  of 
small  caUber  can  secure  places  at  the  coimcil-board.    That, 
at  any  rate,  has  been  the  lustoiy  of  the  American  city  coun- 
cil during  the  last  fifty  years ;  and  the  chief  reason  why  this 
body  to-day  attracts  to  its  membership  so  few  men  of  any 
capacity  or  public  experience  or  business  standing  is  because 
it  has  in  many  cities  ceased  to  be  a  coordinate  branch  of 
the  municipal  government.^    Deprived  of  its  more  important 
administrative  functions  and  restricted  to  sundry  tasks  of 
minor  legislation,  the  average  city  council  no  longer  attract* 
the  type  of  man  that  it  drew  into  its  membership  a  genera- 
tion or  two  ago. 

Now,  the  policy  of  direct  legislation  proposes  that  all  the 
organs  of  contemporary  city  government  shall  have  their 
final  authority  diminished  still  more;  and  if  this  further 
depletion  of  powers  possessed  by  local  authorities  would  not 
conduce  to  a  further  decline  in  the  personnd  of  city  gov- 
*8Mab0YC,i>p.  ISfhigo. 


ImporuuiM 
of  this 
quMtioii. 


DIRECT  LB0I8IATI0N  AND  TH«  RECALL         341 

ernment,  then  five  or  ux  decades  of  political  experience  have 
been  without  tueir  lessons.    It  is  weU  enough  to  say  that  the 
initiative  and  referendum  concern  themselves  with  measures 
and  have  nothing  to  do  with  men,  but  in  local  government 
measures  and  men  cannot  be  so  easily  swept  into  separate 
orbits.    The  kind  of  man  that  the  voters  will  elect  must 
depend  somewhat  upon  the  measures  which  he  is  expected 
to  consider  in  his  official  capacity.    All  public  measures 
are  human  products  and  reflect  the  quality  of  those  who 
give  them  official  adoption.    How  far  direct  legislation  would 
react  upon  the  powers  and  the  personnel  of  elective  officials 
becomes,  accordingly,  a  question  of  very  great  importance 
unless  one  is  prepared  to   eliminate  the  representaUve 
system  altogether. 

But,  it  is  contended,  the  direct  merits  of  the  new  system  Th.  „ 
in  the  way  of  positive  legisUtion  would  in  any  event  be  found  **  *^ 
to  outweigh  this  objection.    What  representative  democracy 
mighi  lose,  direct  democracy  would  gain ;  for  the  real  test  of 
efficient  legisbtion  in  a  democracy  is  its  popularity.    It 
matters  little  how  patiently  or  how  honestly  a  statute  or  an 
ordinance  may  be  framed  by  elected  representatives  of  the 
people ;  it  is  not  a  good  measure  unless  it  embodies  what  the 
greater  number  of  the  people  desire.    Judged  from  that 
pomt  of  view,  there  have  been  a  great  many  unsatisfactory 
ordinances  in  American  cities.    Who  would  urge,  for  ex- 
ample, that  ordinances  granting  franchises  in  the  city  streets 
have  in  any  large  measure  reflected  the  wishes  of  the  com- 
munity ?    This  indifference  to  pubhc  sentiment,  it  is  aUeged, 
results  not  only  from  the  fact  that  city  councils  are  deficient 
m  men  of  representative  character,  but  from  the  additional 
fact  that  the  coundhnen  have  in  many  instances  failed  to 
apprehen."  the  real  functions  of  a  representative.    They 
haye  noi  sought  diligently  to  ascertain  the  sentiment  of  the 
voters,  and  they  have  not  always  responded  to  it  when  they 


' 


842 


OOVIRNMKNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


1^ 


WbaMth* 


■aw  its  drift  w«U  enoug^.  The  only  ordinances  that  eaa 
be  trusted  to  mirror  public  opinion  with  entire  fidelity  ar^ 
accordingly,  those  which  the  people  themselves  frame  and 
enact  directly.  These,  we  are  told,  will  constitute  repre- 
sentative legislation  in  the  true  sense.  In  other  words, 
the  choice  is  asserted  to  be  between  representative  legisla- 
tion secured  directly  and  unrepresentative  legislation  ob- 
tained by  the  old  indirect  channels. 

The  flaw  in  arguments  of  this  type  can  usually  be  found 
in  the  ill^grounded  assumption  that  the  popular  will  is  identi- 
cal with  whatever  the  ballot-box  maj'  disclose  under  any 
circumstances,  a  delusion  which  is  at  least  as  old  as  the 
age  of  Rousseau.  The  decision  of  a  majority  of  a  minority 
among  the  voters  (which  is  what  a  referendum  very  often 
secures)  is  not  an  expression  of  the  general  will.  To  allege 
that  it  would  be  a  true  expression  if  substantially  all  the 
voters  would  go  to  the  polls,  study  the  questions  put  bd^ore 
them,  and  raider  a  judicious  verdict,  does  not  in  any  way 
alter  the  fact.  As  well  might  one  rq>ly  to  criticisms  upon 
the  representative  system  by  alleging  that  the  agencies 
which  it  provides  would  invariably  insure  a  genuine  re- 
pression of  popular  desires  in  the  way  of  legislation  if  the 
voters  would  only  select  the  best  men  of  the  community, 
and  if  these  men  would  only  remain  unswervingly  faithful 
to  the  trust  imposed  in  them.  Representative  and  direct 
legislation  merely  use  different  machinery  for  securing  the 
same  professed  ends.  In  neither  case  is  the  machinery 
able,  in  actual  practice,  to  show  much  approach  to  porfeo- 
tion.  Under  either  s}r8tem  the  results  obtained  depend  so 
largely  upon  the  political  habits  and  traditions  of  the  elec- 
torate that  to  leave  these  things  out  of  account  is  to  n^ect 
the  key  to  the  whole  problem. 

It  has  frequently  been  asserted  that  the  presumable  eager* 
ness  of  persons  to  put  their  names  upon  anything  that  k 


DIRICT  LBOISLATION  AND  TBI  RECALL         343 

in  the  luture  oi  a  petition  will  make  it  easy  for  hobby-ridera  ».  it 
to  obtain,  at  public  expense  and  inoonvenienoe,  oonsidera-  i^^Ti 
tion  for  all  sorts  of  profitless  measures;  and  it  is  true  that  «* !>«««•• 
some  Western  cities  have  not  been  at  all  careful  in  the  use  uiSSL. 
of  the  initiative  during  the  first  few  yean  following  its  es- 
tablishment. As  every  element  in  a  community  has  its 
own  axe  to  grind,  the  quest  for  signatures  naturally  gets  all 
the  momentum  of  a  selfish  propaganda.  If  the  proposal 
has  to  do  with  the  immediate  interests  of  any  organised  fac- 
tion, such  as  a  labor  union,  a  public-service  corporation,  a 
political  machine,  or  a  racial  or  religious  dement,  the  machin- 
ery for  setting  an  initiative  petition  in  motion  is  readily 
at  hand.  If,  however,  it  touches  the  pockets  or  the  preju- 
dices of  none  of  these,  but  merely  rdates  to  the  general 
good  of  the  everyday  citizen  who  has  no  particular  organisa- 
tion to  champion  his  cause,  the  task  of  promoting  direct 
legislation  is  liable  to  prove  a  difficult  one  involving  con- 
siderable expense.  Whether  a  system  which  thus  puts  a 
premium  upon  projects  that  interest  an  organised  portion 
of  the  electorate  and  a  discount  upon  the  advancement  of 
those  which  affect  closely  only  the  unaffiliated  citisen  can 
ultimately  lead  to  better  things  in  local  legislation,  is  a 
question  well  worth  raising.* 

If  the  privilege  of  initiating  measures  by  popular  petition  s.  it  puta 
is  used  freely,  it  means  either  that  special  elections  must  H^^^*^ 


ill 


TOtW. 


*  An  interwtiiic  oommentaiy  <m  this  point  ia  nffofded  by  tlw  Mtosl 
worldnKi  of  the  Boittn  (yatem  of  ncuninating  monieiiMa  oHididfttw  by 
petition!  bearing  fiOOO  lumm.  Suoh  petitioM,  whra  oinulnted  uno^ 
city  employees,  or  at  the  meetings  of  labor  unions,  or  among  those  who 
are  in  the  employ  of  pubUo-aervioe  oorporationa,  aoon  gather  their  necessary 
quota.  Ukewise,  organizations  that  am  ready  to  pay  five  or  ten  ooiU 
per  Dignatore  ean  secure  men  to  make  eanvass  for  names.  But  when 
a  psndidate  has  neither  an  organisation  nor  funds  to  hdp  him,  he  finds  the 
requirement  of  5000  rignatwres  (whioh  is  less  tbaa  five  per  cent  c^f  the  rw- 
Mtered  eleettmte)  a  taslc  of  gnater  difBeufty  than  most  men  would  soi>. 
pose  It  to  be. 


Mfi 


I  TfiigirifiJiBr^.'--"'"^^^'^  -^  ---  -  — -^ 


aagmmmmtUil 


til 

k 


844 


GOVERN  MEirr  OF  AMIRICAN  CITIES 


•  ^ 


Votf-n  will 
uot  pcnon- 
■Uy  in'onn 
then  If"  I VM 
eoni't-ruins 
question*. 


be  held  ftt  (requMt  intenrali  or  that  the  regular  annual 
ballot  must  bear  a  formidable  list  of  queriea.  In  the  fint 
case  the  vote  is  liable  to  be  lo  small  that  a  majwity  of  it 
will  not  be  a  true  index  o(  popular  convictions.  This  fea- 
ture has  been  characteristic  of  special  elections  everywhere. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  many  questions  are  submitted  to  the 
voters  at  the  regular  elections,  the  task  thereby  imposed  upon 
them  is  likely  to  prove  too  intricate  and  burdensome  to  be 
carefully  performed.  On  the  eve  of  an  election  the  average 
voter  gives  just  about  r  j  much  time  and  thought  to  political 
matters.  If  he  has  thirty  questions  to  attend  to,  he  is  apt 
to  give  no  more  of  his  consideration  to  the  lot  than  he  would 
give  to  three.  More  than  likely,  too,  he  will  adopt  the  prae* 
tice  of  turning  for  guidance  to  those  organizations  with  which 
he  is  afiliated,  whether  these  be  political  machines,  labw 
unions,  or  business  bodies.  This,  at  any  rate,  is  what 
voters  have  already  shown  themselves  ready  to  do  in  cities 
that  have  put  numerous  questions  on  the  ballot.  In  such 
circumstances  the  real  voting  is  done  not  by  the  voters,  but 
by  the  political  con  uttees,  th«>  taxpayers'  leagues,  ih» 
hhoT  locals,  and  the  other  as?  ^nations  which  instruot  tiiflir 
respi'ctive  members  how  to  ■..'*  These  b<'iies  issue  cir- 
culars containing  categories!  ciircc ;  <.t>a«  which  the  votot 
are  expected  to  take  with  thei  r  •  tt).  polls.  In  one  case 
the  politicians  provided  each  of  '.'■  >  followers  with  a  shctc 
of  limp  cardboard  cut  the  exact  axe  of  the  ballot,  with  i-iles 
punched  in  it  at  appropriate  plac  s.  The  voter,  by  layiug 
this  card  over  his  ballot  and  marking  a  cross  in  each  bds, 
thereby  recorded  himself  just  as  the  , '  Uticians  desli'ud,  and 
that  without  even  reading  his  ball  .t-paper.  This  tf  no 
doubt  an  extreme  instance ;  but  it  proves,  at  any  rate,  that 
voters  do  not  need  to  study  the  questions  submitted  to  them 
unless  they  desire  to  do  so.  Indeed,  the  cxpurlenee  of  Amssa- 
can  cities  as  regards  the  docility  of  large  element   among  the 


DIRBOT  LBOULATION  AND  TBI  RICALL         345 

votpn  ncfiteely  justifiea  the  hope  that  deetoni  ind^Modence 
will  ever  be  secured  by  means  of  a  i^stem  which  does  not 
virtuaily  compel  it.  Much  has  been  said  as  to  the  way  in 
which  the  old  ballot,  hy  its  plethora  of  candidates,  dis- 
couraged independent  voting;  and  Uie  short  ballot  has 
bern  aggressively,  and  rather  successfully,  put  before  us  as 
a  mcuns  of  making  representative  democracy  efficient  by 
the  removal  of  this  handicap.*  But  will  it  avail  much  if,  in  iui*tkwoi 
taking  ofT  the  names  of  thirty  or  forty  candidates,  we  re-  ffiSt 


place  them  by  an  equal  number  of  set  questions  ?  A  ballot 
which  asks  for  m<H«  information  than  tho  average  voter  is 
able  to  ntpply  intelligently  and  of  his  own  resources  is  un- 
wieldy. Mc\-eover,  it  makes  little  difFwoice  whethc**  the 
information  concerns  candidates  or  matters  of  policy ;  the 
ballot  is  not  a  satisfactory  one  if  it  encourages  the  voter  to 
accept  directions  as  to  how  he  shall  mark  it. 

It  has  been  pointed  out,  furthenxMre,  that  a  referendtim  4.  tw 
is  no  more  than  a  call  for  the  yeas  and  nays,  and  that  a  ^I^ZmmT 
categorical  answer  to  any  general  question  is  nurdy  a  true  !J^Tf^  * 
one.    The  new  sjrstem  assumes  that  all  votos  are  ready  to  *-'pnmtoa 
record  themselves  definitely  for  or  against  a  project  in  exactly  ^S^ 
the  form  in  which  it  appears  on  their  ballots.    This  is  far 
from  being  the  case,  however.    Few  men  hold  unqualified 
opinions  on  great  questions  of  public  ^lioy,  and  those  who 
do  are  apt  to  be  the  ones  least  given  to  serious  thouj^t  upon 
such  matters.    When  a  majority  of  the  doctorate  rejects  a 
proposal  at  the  polls,  this  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  a 
majority  is  opposed  to  such  proposal  in  its  general  outlines. 
More  than  likely  it  means  that  the  majority  contains  many 
who  find  objections  to  the  detuls  of  the  project.    With 
a  little   compromise   the   measure   might   have   secured 


*  See,  fof  ffic&mple,  C.  A.  Board  on 
Seunt€  Quarttriy,  Deeembw,  1909; 
Prineij^  (BMtoa,  1911). 


"Hw  BaBat'a  Batim"  b  PoKKeal 
•ad  B.  &  CUUa,  SKoH  Bdkt 


346 


OOVBRNMINT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIB8 


8.  Votan 
Mvoftan 
actuated  Iqr 
emotion, 
piejudiee, 
or  caprice. 


a  verdict  in  its  favor.  Now,  this  opportunity  for 
compromise,  for  discrimination  between  essentials  and 
details,  and  for  the  elaboration  of  measures  which  seem 
to  serve  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number,  is 
just  what  representative  machinery  provides  and  the 
mechanism  of  direct  legislation  faib  to  supply.  We  are 
often  told  that  the  orthodox  ballot  is  deficient  in  that  it 
asks  the  voter  to  pass  upon  candidates  in  a  narrow 
way,  —  that  it  asks  him  to  designate  his  first  choice  for  an 
office,  and  no  more.  The  preferential  ballot  is,  therefor^ 
urged  into  use  because  it  records  all  shades  of  opinion  among 
the  voters,  because  it  gives  them  an  opportunity  to  say 
something  more  than  yes  or  no  to  the  claims  of  candidates. 
But  is  a  simple  cross  in  the  affirmative  or  the  negative  col- 
umn any  less  open  to  this  criticism  when  set  opposite 
a  question  than  when  marked  against  the  name  of  a 
candidate?  Electoral  opinions  vary  as  much  in  regard  to 
measures  as  they  do  in  r^ard  to  candidates.  The  objection 
made  to  the  categorical  ballot,  that  the  technical  restilt  of 
the  poll  may  be  far  from  indicating  the  actual  attitude  of 
the  voters,  seems  to  apply  with  equal  force  no  matter 
what  the  purport  of  the  ballot  may  be. 

A  study  of  the  results  of  municipal  referenda  in  Amoica 
shows  that  prejudice  and  caprice  often  take  the  place  of 
judgment  in  determining  the  action  uf  voters  at  the  polls. 
It  is  well  known  to  politicians  who  have  kept  r*osely  in 
touch  with  such  matters  that  the  affirmative  side  of  any 
question  submitted  to  the  voters  has  a  distinct  advantage 
over  the  negative.  Hence  there  has  sometimes  been  a  good 
deal  of  jockeying  between  the  supporters  and  the  opponent 
of  a  question  as  to  the  form  of  phrasing  it.*    Just  why 


*  An  intcrwtinc  iUiutomtion  of  this  feature  wm  afforded  in  a  wetMcaows 
New  Encland  oity  at  the  eleetion  erf  191 1 .  The  voters  wen  aslted  on  thair 
ballot*  whether  they  were  in  favor  erf  the  erection  of  a  oity  homritaL    Bf  a 


DIRECT  LBOISLATION  AND  THE  RECALL         347 

the  yoten  should  display  this  rather  curicms  illustration 
of  electoral  caprice  it  is  not  altogether  easy  to  explain,  but 
those  who  best  know  votov  and  th«r  n  ays  readily  testify 
to  its  invariable  existence.    The  affirmative  seems,  m  fact, 
to  have  a  bonus  similar  to  that  enjoyed  by  the  candi- 
date whose  name  appears  at  the  top  of  the  ballot.    Nor  is 
this  the  only  capricious  tendency  which  experience  with  the 
municipal  referendum  discloses.    It  is  weU  known,  for  in- 
stance, that  voters  carry  with  them  into  the  polling-booth 
a  substantial  antipathy  to  public-service  corporations  and 
capitalistic  interests  in  general.    The  average  voter  is  apt 
to  register  his  voice  against  anything  that  looks  like  a  con- 
cession to  this  quarter.    A  cry  against  special  privilege  in 
any  of  its  forms  is  one  of  the  easiest  to  raise,  and  when 
raised  it  usually  has  considerable  effect.    It  may  be,  of 
course,  that  this  anti-corporation  prejudice  among  the  voters 
is  the  fruit  of  corporate  misdoings,  that  corporate  interests 
by  their  reckless  disr^ard  of  public  opinion  have  brought 
it  upon  themselves.    But  even  if  this  be  true,  it  does  not 
alter  the  fact  that  prejudice  exists,  nor  does  it  change  the 
principle  that  government  by  prejudice  is  not  safe  govern- 
ment.   It  must  be  rememb^«d  that,  where  large  property 
interests  are  concerned,  measures  which  seem  to  be  l^s- 
lative  in  form  are  often  adjudicative  in  effect.    Without 
the  tempering  hand  of  the  state  upon  it,  the  free  use  of 
direct  legislation  in  cities  might  well  tend  to  render  property 
rights  insecure. 

majority  of  aboat  gOO  (hqr  npUad  in  the  sflrmativ*.  It  wm  originally 
•Jrranged  tliat  th«y  ihouki  alao  be  aaked  wiiether  they  would  aathoriie 
tbe  borrowing  of  fundi  for  the  pnrpoee  i'outaide  the  d^t  limit.'!  The 
opponenu  of  the  projeot,  however,  mMu««d  to  have  the  woiding  of  the 
"HM-ond  queetion  changed  to  ai  to  read  "within  the  debt  limit."  At  the 
«ily  «  borrowing  capacity  wiUiin  the  debt  limit  was  ^ready  about  ex- 
hausted,  the  afflrmative  of  the  propoaition  thus  stated  an  obviou.  impoeu- 
muty.  By  thia  device  the  votera  were  almoat  led  to  retract  in  their  answer 
to  the  aeoond  queation  the  decision  which  they  had  passed  upon  the  first. 


"Wtnples. 


Ml 


MMgai 


\i 


348 


OOVKRNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


wimt  The  two  fields  in  which  American  cities  have  had  most 

eilJISriinre  experience  with  the  referendum  are  the  regulation  of  the 
thT^ttw  ^iQ'^o'f  trade  and  the  borrowing  of  money.  The  application 
of  referenda,  of  the  local-optiou  poUcy  to  the  Sale  of  intoxicants  usually 
means  that  the  voters  of  the  town  or  city  must  each  year  de- 
cide directly  at  the  polls  the  question  whether  licenses  shall 
or  shall  not  be  granted  in  the  municipality.  This  question 
is  so  comparatively  simple  that,  barring  radical  changes  in  the 
composition  of  the  electorate,  the  answer  of  the  voters  to  it 
ought  not  to  be  different  from  year  to  year  if  the  vobcs  re- 
corded upon  it  really  represented  the  matured  convictions 
of  th(Me  who  cast  th^m.  But  the  gyrations  of  local  policy 
in  this  field  have  been  so  marked  that  they  are  conunonly 
spoken  of  as  "wavea"  of  prohibition  or  anti-prohibition 
sentiment.  If  any  branch  of  local  policy  has  been  the  pli^ 
thing  of  passing  gusts  in  the  public  temper,  it  is  that  which 
relates  to  the  regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic.  In  the  mattor 
of  municipal  borrowing,  in  the  second  place,  a  large  e/xp^JO' 
ence  in  city  affairs  has  proved  the  unreliability  of  the  refer- 
endum as  a  means  of  securing  prudent  action.  The  partial- 
ity of  the  voters  for  measures  that  propose  to  pay  for  pubUe 
improvements  by  loans  rat^r  than  out  ^f  currrait  Uam 
has  been  demonstrated  time  and  again  the  country  over.* 
It  if  )vly  natural  that  men  should  desire  to  have  preseal 
conveniences  paid  for  by  future  generations;   hence,  iHm 


■  "At  a  reemt  deotkm  on  the  qvastkm  at  borrowhiK  a  large  mm  of 
money  in  Philadelphia,  to  be  applied  to  improvements  in  different  parti 
of  the  city,  purriy  local  and  lelflah  connderations  made  themaelvei  Mt 
Those  parts  of  tiM  oity  which  were  to  be  directly  benefited  by  the  loan 
returned  large  majorities  for  it,  while  in  other  sections  it  was  viewed  with 
curious  indifTerenoe.  Not  a  few  electors,  upon  being  asked  how  they 
had  voted  on  the  proposition,  explained  in  all  seriousness  that  they  had 
cast  their  ballots  in  favor  of  the  biU  beeause  they  bclievt J  it  would  put 
more  money  in  circulation  and  five  the  poor  a  chance  to  obtain  s«ne  of 
it."  —  E.  P.  Obehholtser,  The  Rt/trendum,  Initiative,  and  BeatU  in  Amer- 
iea  (New  York.  1911).  282. 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION  AND  THE  RECALL         349 

the  votere  are  asked  whether  they  wiU  themgelvea  pay  the 
cost  of  a  pubUc  improvement  or  let  their  grandchildren  do 
It,  their  answer  is  in  most  cases  not  difficult  to  forecast. 
It  used  to  be  thought  that,  since  municipal  councils  are  apt 
to  be  prodigal  of  the  city's  credit,  the  necessity  of  submitting 
all  loan  proposal  to  the  people  for  their  ratification  would 
prove  a  useful  safeguard  against  unnecessary  borrowing. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  this  requirement  has  afforded 
no  security  of  any  account;  if  anything,  it  has  rather  fa- 
vored undue  borrowing  by  making  no  one  responsible 
for  it. 

Nor  do  the  foregoing  examples  exhaust  the  list  of  matters 
in  regard  to  which  voters  have  shown  themselves  prone  to 
be  actuated  by  paauag  waves  of  «^inion,  or  by  purely  selfish 
motives  not  in  the  ultimate  interest  of  the  commui^y 
or  by  simple  prejudice  or  sheer  apathy.    Every  one  knows, 
for  example,  the  lenient  attitude  which  the  electorate  takes 
toward  those  who  hold  places  on  the  city's  pay-roU.    For 
securing  higher  pay,  fewer  hours  of  Ubor,  and  more  favoi^ 
able  terms  of  service  the  referendum  has  proved  itself  a 
vcrj  useful  agency.    The  pubhc  feels  iU-inclined  to  stand 
out  agamst  the  demaDtb  which  come  from  its  own  employees. 
That  is  why  poUcemen,  fiifemen,  and  others  who  press  their 
d«  mands  upon  the  city  eeundl  are  usuaUy  willing  that 
the  matter  should  be  submitted  to  the  voters.    In  many 
cases,  too,  the  councilmen  are  no  less  willing ;  for  by  diifting 
their  own  responsibility  upon  the  people  in  this  way  they 
are  able  to  escape  the  odium  which  is  certain  to  come  from 
ono  quarter  if  the  den^ands  are  granted  and  from  another  if 
they  are  refused. 

When  one  comes  to  balance  the  various  merits  and  !mtt»  ^JJg^ 
of  the  initiative  and  referendum  as  summed  up  in  th«  lore-  wwau 
going  pages,  one  finds  that  much  depends  upon  the  indi-  ^ 
vidual's  point  of  view.    Men  hold  widely  divergeirt  ©ptaions   K***" 


350 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


ThanMil. 


Kiodgia. 


for  example,  concerning  the  extent  to  which  representative 
machinery  in  local  government  has  fallen  short  of  what  can 
reasonably  be  required  of  it;  yet  every  man's  attitude 
toward  direct  legislation  will  depend,  to  a  large  degree,  upon 
the  opinions  which  he  has  formed  on  this  question.  Much 
also  depends  upon  individual  temperament.  Those  who 
have  great  confidence  in  what  the  masses  of  the  voters  can 
do,  even  without  leadership  and  imder  difficult  circum- 
stances, will  not  be  awed  by  practical  objections  to  direct- 
legislation  methods ;  but  it  is  an  intemting  fact  that  those 
who  have  had  most  to  do  with  political  a£fairs  are  not,  as  a 
rule,  sharers  in  this  feeling  of  great  confidence.  Since 
psychology  is  an  inductive  science,  its  application  to  people 
in  the  mass  can  only  be  understood  by  a  careful  and  pro- 
longed observation  of  the  electorate  when  it  acts  as  an 
individual  answering  yes  or  no  to  its  political  catechism  at 
the  polls.  On  this  point  the  next  decade  is  likely  to  teach 
us  a  great  deal. 

Linked  in  contemporary  discussion  with  the  initiative  and 
the  referendum  is  the  administrative  weapon  known  as  the 
recall.  This  may  be  defined  as  an  agency  through  which  an 
official  may  be  removed  from  his  post  before  the  end  of  his 
term.  Although  long  in  existence  in  some  of  the  Swiss 
cantons,  the  institution  is  novel  in  America,  having  first 
made  its  appearance  in  the  Populist  platforms  of  two  or  three 
decades  ago  under  the  somewhat  forbidding  name  of  "thw 
imperative  mandate."  It  first  gained  official  recognition 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  in  the  Los  Angeles  charter  of 
1903 ;  and  it  has  since  made  its  way  into  the  constitutions 
of  two  or  three  states,  into  the  general  laws  of  several  more, 
and  into  the  charters  of  more  than  one  hundred  cities,  most 
of  them  municipalities  that  have  adopted  the  commission 
form  of  city  government. 

In  practically  all  the  cities  that  have  established  the  re- 


DIRECT  LE0I8LATI0N  AND  THE  RBCALL         3il 

caU  procedure  the  provision.  reUting  to  it  aw  about  the  u.,,^ 
same.      Ordinarily  it  appUes  to  elective  officen  only,  but  l*****- 
in  some  cities  it  extends  its  scope  to  appointive  officials  as 
well.    The  movement  to  recaU  an  officer  is  always  begun  by 
the  preparation  of  a  petition  which  sets  forth  charges  against 
him.    This  document,  when  it  has  been  signed  by  the  re- 
quired  quota  of  qualified  voters,  is  presented  to  some  design 
nated  municipal  officer,  usuaUy  the  city  clerk.    The  quota 
necessary  is  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  of  votes  poUed  at  the  last  election;  in  a  few  cities 
It  .8  even  higher.    The  signatures  having  been  verified  and 
counted  and  aU  other  requirements  found  to  have  been  fuUy 
comphed  with,  a  recaU  election  is  ordered.    It  is  ordinarilv 
provided  that  the  name  of  the  official  whose  removal  is 
sought  shaU  appear  on  the  baUot  unless  he  requests  tlie 
contrary.    Other  candidates  fo.  the  office  may  be  put  in 
nommation  by  the  usual  methods.    So  far  as  poUing^pkees, 
ballots,  and  general  arrangements  are  concerned,  the  r.,caU 
election  is  (conducted  like  any  regular  polling.    Unless  the 
official  who  has  been  holding  the  office  gets  the  highest  num- 
ber of  votes  among  the  several  candidates,  he  is  recaUed  • 
that  IS,  he  vacates  his  post  forthwith,  and  the  balance  of 
his  term  is  fiUed  out  by  the  candidate  who  does  receive  the 
highest  vote.    To  prevent  an  abuse  of  the  recall  procedure. 
It  .s  often  provided  that  no  removal  petition  may  be  filed 
until  an  officer  has  been  at  least  six  months  in  his  post,  and 

'  The  chirf  exception  to  the  gaunl  rale  k  Baatm.  whui.  w-  *i.     i. 

reralhng  the  mayor  appeared  on  the  baUots  in  November  IBli  •    h^  ♦k! 

total  repitered  vote)  waa  not  forthoomin*.  At  the  total  nyri^Hli  J!! 
m  BoMon  b  about  110^.  it  would  have^e^UJiTaStZitn;  J^ 
Si.      "•''"•     ^  •"*"»'  '^'  '^  '•  •fflrmaUveSirn^v; 


|_^ 


352 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Argumenti 
in  iu  fkvor. 


1.  It  keep* 
oSeial*  re- 

popidar 
•ratioMnt. 


that  thereafter  a  petition  may  not  be  set  in  motion  more 
than  Mice  in  any  year.' 

The  chief  argument  put  forth  in  favor  of  the  recall  is  its 
reputed  efficacy  as  a  means  of  retaining  popular  control  over 
men  installed  in  public  of&ce.  Its  existence  is  a  standing 
reminder  to  the  office-holder  that  he  is  the  servant  and  not 
the  master  of  the  people.  It  compels  every  public  officer 
to  view  each  of  his  own  acts  in  the  light  of  the  effect  which 
it  vill  have  upon  the  voters  at  large.  The  recall  provision 
is  based  upon  the  idea  that  the  relation  between  the  voters 
and  the  office-holder  is  that  of  principal  and  agent,  and  may 
logically  be  terminated  at  any  time  by  either  party.  An 
unbroken  responsiveness  of  all  officers  to  that  public  opinion 
which  is  supposed  to  govern  their  acts  (but  too  often  does 
not)  is  what  the  sponsors  of  the  recall  claim  for  it.' 

New,  it  is  hardly  tu  be  doubted  that  an  official  who  is  sub- 
ject to  the  recall  at  any  time  is  likely  to  be  more  deferential 
to  the  wishes  of  the  electorate  than  one  who  can  count  upon 
serving  out  \m  fuU  term,  no  matter  how  unpopular  his  ser- 
vice may  be.  The  deference  of  the  office-seeker  to  public 
sentiment  is  proverbial ;  the  chao^  which  often  comes  over 
the  successful  candidate  after  he  gets  firmly  seated  in  his 
office  is  also  a  commonplace  of  American  political  life.  It  is 
the  aim  of  the  recall  provision  to  prevent  this  change  in  atti- 
tude, to  keep  the  official  in  that  frame  of  nmd  which  he  pro- 
fessed as  a  candidate.  No  doubt  the  recall  can  accomplish 
this,  if  an}rthing  can ;  but  that  is  not  the  only  point  at  issue. 
The  main  question  is   whether  responsiveness   to   public 

'  The  detailed  provisioiu,  m  applied  in  various  cities  may  be  found 
in  C.  A.  Beard's  Digt»t  of  Short  BaUot  Charters  (New  Yorli,  1911).  A 
summary  of  the  laws  and  of  the  judicial  decisions  i«  given  in  Comparatie* 
Legitlation  Bulletin,  No.  12,  issued  by  the  Wisconsin  Free  Library  Com- 
mission. This  siunmary  is,  however,  complete  until  December.  1907, 
only. 

*  A  statement  of  the  arifuments  in  favor  d  the  recall  may  be  found  in 
D.  F.  Wilcox's  Government  byAUlhe  People  (New  York,  1912),  oh.  zxiv-xzvi. 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION  AND  THE  RECALL         353 

opinion  secured  in  this  way  is  not  gained  at  the  cost  of  the 
officer  8  efficiency  in  the  dischai^e  of  hia  duties.    When  au 
official  has  almost  no  other  function  than  that  of  i^presentinU 
hi8  constituents  (and  that  seems  to  be  the  only  rational  office 
of  councilmen  elected  from  wards),  the  recall  makes  a  strong 
case  m  its  own  favor.    But  there  are  many  city  officers  upon 
whom  w  laid  not  only  the  duty  of  reflecting  in  their  acts  the 
Will  of  those  who  choose  them,  but  a  great  deal  more  than 
that.    In  aU  its  administrative  departments  the  city  needs 
•kill  and  judgment  no  less  than  it  needs  a  responsive  attitude  • 
It  19,  indeed,  upon  the  former  qualities  that  the  emphasis' 
ought  to  be  laid.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  possi- 
bility of  recalling  an  administrative  officer  at  any  time  lays 
the  emphasis  elsewhere :  it  puts  popularity  before  efficiency 
It  may,  of  course,  be  contended  that  there  is  reaUy  no  dif- 
ference between  the  two,  that  an  official  who  shows  skill  and 
judgment  m  the  performance  of  his  duties  is  always  respond- 
ing to  the  wishes  of  a  majority  among  the  voters.    Were 
this  a  true  statement  of  the  situation  as  it  actually  exists 
in  most  American  cities  to-day,  the  arguments  in  favor  of 
the  recaU  would  be  weU-nigh  unanswerable.    But  it  re- 
quires very  little  contact  with  municipal  poUtics  to  con- 
vince  one  that  the  interests  of  the  city  as  they  may  appear 
to  a  competent  official  are  veiy  far  from  being  always  the 
sume  thmg  as  the  wishes,  whims,  or  emotions  of  the  voteis. 
Ihe  chief  weakness  of  the  recall  in  relation  to  administra- 
tive officers  is  that  it  puts  the  emphasis  at  the  wrong  point. 
It  19  an  entire  negation  of  the  principle  which  led  to  the 
fallmg  cf  administrative  posts  by  appointment  rather  than 
by  election. 

An  advantage  frequently  claimed  for  the  recall  is  that  it  2.  i.p,™^ 
Tmits  the  lemrthAninv  n(  nffi/.;.i  * .-^l      .  i,.„-..  _- 


-         ^ J  "^«  .«•  kuc  rwaii  18  mac  It  2.  Itp. 

permits  the  lengthening  of  official  terms  without  exposing  '""'r 


°  o  —  — — •  vctiuB  wiiuuui  exposing 

city  to  the  danger  of  establishing  an  administrative  bu- 

rcmeracy.    The  practice  of  giving  short  terms  to  executive 


tenaa. 


2a 


364 


OOVIRNMKNT  OF  AMBIUCAN  CITIB8 


B«wfar 
tUaadvu- 
la  ba 


officer!  hM  b«en  one  of  the  weak  epote  in  American  mu- 
nicipal government.    It  points  to  one  of  the  chief  reaaoni  for 
the  failure  to  develop  sound  traditions  in  local  adminis- 
tration.   It  has  proved  a  barrier  to  the  use  of  experts  in  the 
city's  service,  and  finds  its  only  rational  justification  in  the 
assumed  necessity  of  holding  to  direct  popular  account  all 
those  who  occupy  public  posts.    If,  therefore,  this  accounta- 
bility can  by  means  of  the  recall  bo  reconciled  with  long 
terms  of  office,  the  expedient  will  have  much  to  commmd 
it.    But  the  degree  of  service  which  the  recall  provision  can 
render  in  this  direction  will  depend  partly  upon  the  ease 
with  which  it  can  be  invoked  to  remove  an  offico*,  and 
partly  upon  the  motives  which,  as  a  rule,  actuate  the  voten 
at  recall  elections.    If  proposals  for  removal  can  be  put  un* 
der  way  very  easily,  and  if  partisan  motives  determine  the 
decision  of  the  electorate,  the  outcome  will  be  the  ousting 
of  officers  with  little  regard  to  the  way  in  which  they  have 
performed  their  administrative  duties.    If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  electorate  develops  the  conviction  that  men  should 
not  be  recalled  except  for  clear  inefficiency  or  dereliction, 
the  recall  may  provide  a  safeguard  without  impairing  official 
security  of  tenure.    One  of  the  notable  defects  of  the  short 
official  term  is  its  tendency  to  make  public  officors  sp«Bd 
too  much  of  their  time  and  thought  upon  politics.    It  has 
forced  them  to  do  everything  with  an  eye  to  their  own  re- 
appointment or  reelection.    With  the  possibility  of  a  recall 
election  always  on  the  horizon,  would  this  situation  be  im- 
proved by  any  formal  extension  of  official  terms?    The 
answer  to  this  question  depends  wholly  upon  the  policy  which 
the  voters  develop  in  relation  to  the  recall ;  and  until  more 
facts  are  available  this  is  not  a  matter  upon  which  one  can 
safely  venture  any  prediction.* 

*  Aa  yet  the  recall  has  been  uaed  in  leaa  than  a  dozen  initaneea.    In  Lot 
Angelea  it  haa  been  called  into  operation  twice  ainoe  ita  eatabliahment  in 


DIRICT  LI0I8LATI0N  AND  THI  RICALL 


8S6 


Popular  election  m  a  method  of  gettkig  capable  men  into 
administrative  podticmi  haa  not  found  ita  dforta  crowned 
with  succeaa  cither  in  Amwica  or  elaewhere.  Leaat  of  all 
has  it  proved  satisfactory  in  citiea.  Yet  most  of  the  objec- 
tions that  may  be  urged  against  this  system  aa  a  means 
of  securing  qualified  officers  may  be  urged  against  it  as  a 
means  of  removing  those  who  are  not  competent,  unless 
it  be  assumed  that  voters  are  governed  by  different  motives 
in  the  respective  matters  of  selection  and  removal.  When 
one  remembers,  moreover,  that  the  question  of  recalling  an 
officer  is  not  put  before  the  doctorate  aa  a  simple  proposition 
to  be  determined  upon  its  merits,  but  is  almost  always  linked 
up  with  the  query  as  to  whethw  the  voters  would  favor  some 
other  aspirant  for  the  office,  one  sees  little  reaaon  to  hope 
that  electoral  tendencies  at  recall  electiona  will  differ  greatly 


1903,  in  on*  oMe  to  nmrn  ik\  smbw  oi^  tlw  oltjr  eooaoil  for  haTing  voted 
to  award  •  oontrast  fcr  -'i^  p-  tLnft  in  n  wtij  that  was  diqilaaiinff  to  tha 
majority  of  the  Totan  ii.  (  ,ard  which  he  repreeeated,  ia  the  other  eaae 
to  secure  the  nmanl  of  *l.e  i.is,sat.  The  mayor,  however,  tendered  hi* 
resignation  before  the  reeall  eleotion  ooold  be  broi^t  about.  San  Ber> 
nardino.  CaUfomia,  removed  two  oouneilmai  in  1907.  In  DaOai,  Team, 
the  memben  of  the  adbool  board  were  reoalled  in  1900;  in  Seattle,  Waeh- 
inston,  the  mayor  waa  reeaUcd  in  1911,  and  hia  ranoval  waa  followed  in 
the  same  year  by  an  abmtive  attempt  to  reoaU  his  auecesacr.  The 
mayor  and  two  commiiaioners  were  reoalled  in  Taeoma  in  1911 ;  and 
an  attempt  to  r«nove  the  mayor  and  the  whtde  eouaoil  of  Horon,  South 
Dakota,  failed  at  the  polls  in  tlw  same  year.  In  several  other  muniei- 
palities  as,  for  example,  in  Dee  Moines,  Iowa,  the  ose  of  the  reoaU  haa 
been  threi^ened  aa  a  means  of  aeeurinf  the  eoaotment  of  various  loeal 
measures.  Fordataontheaematters,  seettwohapterson  "The  Reoall  in 
Los  Angeles"  and  "The  Reeall  in  Seattle,"  inrinted  in  the  volume  of 
selected  articlee  entitled  Tke  InitiaHwe,  RtiftrtfidHm,  and  RtcaU  (ed. 
W.  B.  Munro,  New  York,  1912);  H.  B.  Oilbcrtson's  piqier  on  "Con- 
servative Aspeets  of  the  Reeall,"  in  NaHonal  Mtmieipal  BtpUw,  1. 204-211 
(April,  1912) :  and  theartiole  by  J.  D.  Bamett  on  "The  Operati<m  of  the 
Rf^idl  in  Oregon,"  in  A  merican  Politieal  8eiene«  ReHnr,  VI.  41-53  (February, 
1912).  There  is  a  chapter  on  the  recall  in  E.  P.  Oberholtzer's  Beferendun, 
Initiative,  and  Reeall  in  America  (New  Vork,  1911),  and  several  chapters 
are  devoted  to  it  in  D.  F.  Wileoz'a  ^iovr-ntunt  by  itU  Us  PtopU  (New 
York,  1912). 


%^^ 


ase 


OOyiBlOIINT  Of  IMBRICAN  Cimi 


from  thoM  conmumly  dltf^yed  at  onUaaiy  pdliofi.  Thh 
is  another  matter  in  whieh  evwything  hinges  upon  tin 
tort  of  traditions  developed.  A  aomewhat  rapid  develop- 
ment is  now  in  process;  and  upon  the  ultimate  produet  wiU 
depMul,  in  large  measure,  the  UMfuhiess  whieh  the  reeaU 
ean  display  as  an  addition  to  the  machinery  of  American 
dty  government. 


A  aompnlMMlvw  biWocnpkjr,  iarfaittw  aot  odjrboekibvt  L 
•ad  BwcMia*  MtMw,  WM  faMMd  by  th«  libnupjr  of  Oo^rMS  is  ini  1 
th*  titi*  Sthet  Ud  tf  Rtftmum  m  Om  4mMatiM,  Mrf^nmium,  m»i 
la  tfM  MUM  JTMT  tiM  L«WMiv«  IWwMM  D^^Hrtmat  of  tks  Oy»  Mirts 
Libniy  pahUOmi  •  omThI  pamphWt  «aBcd  InilttUm  mud  a^mmtimt  (•<. 
C.  B.  OalbrMth.  CoiuailNn.  1911),  <w>Bt>faifa^  th*  UmU  of  wrtltstln— 1 
pravidmu  NiMiat  to  dinet  lagidatioB,  tai«tlMr  witb  a  wtilMwrttd  Mil 
of  priatad  flwttriy  bwriag  npoB  diffwHit  phMM  of  ^  ■ehiwl.  Tmtl 
the  CmtpnwMM  £«fMaMM  BuUtHtu  knmi  by  Um  Winooria  Piw  Uhmy 
CommiaiioB  (Not.  12  and  21)  eoataia  digwta  of  th«  bm  and  jadkM  di> 
okiona,  with  briaf  Utto  of  Nfanaeaa. 

MfttefW  UhutmtiiiK  Um  iray  la  wbUk  piovtaioo  far  dinet  lnlibiUoa 
k  ma^  in  dw  ooutitatkias  aad  itatatos  may  bo  fooBd  ia  C.  A.  B«Md  aad 
B.  I.  SholU's  DMumm^  m  Of  SM*  wiit  /mMoMn.  Jl^crmdaM,  oad 
RtetXl  (Now  Torit,  1911).  Hm  aaaio  fwtaio  la  i«a  ntatkia  to  anak^ 
govwaaMBt  may  bo  ataiUod  ia  C.  A.  Boafd'a  INfM<  itf  AAoH  AoBK  CftaHwa 
(Now  York.  1911).  Maay  iataraatiai  mmI  oarfal  doeot^ta  an  aka  ii^ 
elttdod ia Senator  R. L.Ow«i'a  COtii  tkt Paajik'a  JMa  (U  Ooi«.,a8Ma^ 
Senate  Doe.  No.  008). 

Two  votnmea  of  aoketod  raadiafa  vpoB  dkaet  ki^riatioB  aad  the  nmI 
an  r*«  /oMoMm.  A/«rmdi»m  ood  Jt«saB  (ed.  W.  B.  Moan,  Now  Tort, 
1912)  aad  ArMekt  on  Me  IwMMm  mnd  B^mrtnium  (ad.  ■.  M. 
Miaaeapolk.  1909).  Thaaa  paUkattoaa  bri^  togotbar  praetkaQy 
tbe  arfomaota  far  aad  i«aiaat  dinet  deoMeraey  that  havo  1 
bom  aay  quarter  dnriac  the  hMt  fow  yoava. 

AmoBff  boiAa  deaUnc  with  the  aabjeet  ia ahktocteal  aad  orittaal  way 
the  beet  k  K.  P.  Oberiudtaer'a  Jli^eraiwfNiN. /mMoI^  WMlJlMMli  i«  ilflMPka 
(New  Yorit.  1911).  A  moeb  kae  naeful  work,  whidi  aeverthekaa  oei^ 
taine  aome  iatareatiac  hktorkal  dkeoaaioBa.  k  C.  a  Loblaskr'a  PmV» 
I«w  (New  Toric.  1909).  The  aignaimito  for  dinet  hrielatiooandtiwnaaB 
an  vigoKHuly  aot  forth  ia  D.  P.  Wikos*!  Gdr«niM«ii<  fry  ilU  Ike  Fmfk 
(New  York,  1912).  Prom  oao  poiat  or  another  the  queetioa  k  approaihed 
in  many  other  w<wki,  raeh  aa  W.  S.  H.  Laeky'e  Dnmoenew  and  Likrty 
(2  volt.,  London.  1806).  eepedaUy  I.  287  IT.,  Oamalid  BradfMd'a  Lmmm 
<tt  Popular  Qownmnt  (2  vok.,  Now  York,  1899),  e^odaily  IL  188-201; 


DUnCT  UOULATION  AND  TBI  UCAU.        857 


F.  A.  CWvriMd'i  OMrtft  V  OMMwracy  <•  IA«  IfaiM  AsIm  (Nmt 
im),  in-Ml ;  ■.  L.  Ottdkbl't  C/i«^if«Mm  rM^MMfo*  ^  fiMMMracy 
tea.  laiM),  M-144;  A.  L.  LamtH'm Ommmmmm  mud  PmrtUa  im  C 
KftMM  (3  vols..  BMtom  1IB6).  II.  aa»-a0O:  Joka  MmH  Mitt's 
mOMM  Omtrnmrnd  (Nmt  Toffk.  1906).  •hd  HL-viLi  Md  W. F. 
AitMm  awl  AwmimttH  if  Jtato  CMMMMtoM  (BrillMn,  1910) 

TnMtvMtkjr  iMMat  whrtwg  to  tk«  to««  •!  ntowda  te  d_ 
tUtw  Md  dtiai  aw  aot  vwy  aaaiwHili.  NoiiiAHlTaaoaq»llatiMi«f 
flffUTM  haa  aa  yat  baaa  andtrtafcaa.  aad  Um  aate 
into  priat  fa  bad^  waHwad.  For  Oa  pnawt.  at 
thia  flald  anut  ba  dmwa  altkv  fkoai  tha  pabtta  ilnaanwH  of  a 
■tolM  aad  aavana  tliMi  aa  BMygr  aMaa.  or  ta  firagaMitaqr  fona  hwB 
pubUeatkHM  aa  tha  Awmimm  Ymtt  Bttk,  tha  Wtrtd  Almanat, 
|MriodfaalkMnniaa«t«<ly«(r<M,  iMoad  alPhfladalyhia  is  tha 
of  tha  diraat  ligMalhw  inyamMt. 


Tark, 

(1 


pal 
ia 


t*tatocon  MmuTioN  ran  omit 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  Me.  2) 


A 


/IPPLtlED  IIVMGE     Ir 

165]  East   Main  SIrMI 

Roch«ter.   N«tt  York         14609       USA 

(716)   462  -  0300  -  P^on. 

(716)  2SS-Ma9  -ro> 


I 


CHAPTER  XrV 


MUNICIPAL  BEFOBM  AND  BGFOBBIEBS 


Thedefini- 
tion  of 
refomh 


Municipal  reform  is  the  term  commonly  used  to  desig- 
nate any  kind  of  organized  agitation  which  has  for  its  aim 
the  improvement  of  existing  conditions  in  some  branch  of 
local  administration.  It  is,  accordingly,  a  hydra-headed 
thing,  and  ought  not  to  be  approached  as  if  it  were  a  single 
factor  in  public  life  with  a  fixed  purpose  and  a  uniform 
method  of  attaining  its  end.  Mimicipal  reform  is  one  of 
the  most  comprehensive  phrases  in  the  vocabulary  of  politi- 
cal science,  comprising  as  it  does  a  legion  of  separate  agita- 
tions which  start  from  sources  widely  apart,  which  profess 
different  purposes,  and  which  employ  very  dissimilar  means 
of  carrying  their  aims  to  fruition.  Movements  for  the  simpli- 
fication of  municipal  machinery  by  a  reduction  of  the  mun- 
bcr  of  elective  officials  in  city  government,  for  direct  nomi- 
nation methods,  for  improvements  in  the  ballot,  for  the 
introduction  of  the  initiative,  referendum,  and  recall,  for 
the  displacing  of  patronage  by  the  use  of  the  merit  sjrstem, 
for  greater  uniformity  in  accounting,  for  the  replanning  of 
streets,  for  the  extension  of  playground  facilities,  for  im- 
proved housing  conditions,  and  for  a  host  of  other  alterations 
in  the  existing  system  of  city  government  or  administration, 
are  grouped  together  under  the  generic  name  of  municipal 
reform.  It  matters  not  that  some  of  these  movements  are 
irreconcilable  with  one  another  in  purpose;  that  there 
is,  for  example,  a  necessary  antagonism  between  the  short- 
ballot  agitation,  which  seeks  to  ease  the  ballot  of  its  present 
burdens,  and  the  propaganda  for  direct  legislation,  which 

8S6 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  AND  REFORMERS 


359 


progrest. 


would,  if  successful,  make  the  ballot  more  cumbersome  than 
ever;  or  between  the  sponsors  of  commission  government, 
who  desire  to  have  men  elected  directly  to  the  headships  of 
municipal  departments  by  popular  vote,  and  the  more  aggres- 
sive wing  of  civil-service  reformers  who  insist  that  these 
officials  should  be  selected  by  competitive  tests.  However 
poorly  they  may  harmonize  with  one  another,  all  projects 
of  civic  betterment,  from  whatever  source  they  may  come 
and  whatever  their  merits,  are  thrust  by  popular  usage 
into  the  same  broad  categoiy.  They  are  stamped  with  the 
generic  label  of  reform,  and  those  who  urge  them  are  called 
reformers. 

From  this  point  of  view  all  citizens  ought  property  to  be  Refom«Ki 
included  within  the  ranks  of  municipal  reformers,  for  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  any  one  ready  to  declare  his  unquaUfied 
satisfaction  with  civic  conditions  as  they  are.    Men  differ 
widely,  of  course,  in  regard  to  the  exact  location  of  munic- 
ipal ills  and  as  to  the  cause  of  them ;  and  even  more  widely, 
perhaps,  they  disagree  as  to  the  remedies  that  ought  to  be 
applied.    But  the  man  who  would  assert  that  the  United 
States  has  reached  finality  in  municipal  organization,  that 
there  is  now  no  room  for  betterment  in  any  branch  of  it, 
would  be  either  insincer  >  in  his  expression  of  opinion  or  bUnd 
to  the  facts  about  him.    In  the  last  analysis,  therefore, 
every  citizen  who  is  not  absolutely  devoid  of  political  vision 
must,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  be  a  partisan  of  reform ;  or, 
to  put  it  in  a  more  palatable  form,  he  must  be  a  friend  of 
progress  wherever  opportunities  for  progress  appear.    It  is 
quite  in  consonance  with  the  tendency  to  anomaly  in  Ameri- 
can poUtical  Ufe,  however,  that  those  who  proclaim  from  the 
housetops  their  progressive  temperament,  and  declare  that 
as  the  old  order  changeth  it  must  give  place  to  the  new,  are 
the  very  ones  who  most  resent  the  title  of  reformers. 
For  all  this  there  is  a  good  reason.    Reform  and  reformers 


360 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


BefonnMul 
nfonn6n 
■f  the  pub- 
lic views 
timn. 


Thegenenl 
type*  of 
fefonn 
oisaniia- 
tima. 


I.  Natiooat 
Bad  state 
organisa- 
tiou. 


1.  With 
general 
programmci 
of  reform. 


are  words  that  have  gathered  a  dubious  significance  in  the 
public  imagination.  A  municipal-reform  movement  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  something  which  men  of  good  in- 
tention launch  from  time  to  time  into  the  arena  of  local 
politics  with  Uttle  study  of  its  practical  merits,  and  attempt 
to  drive  through  without  much  attention  to  established 
methods  of  procedure.  The  reformer,  in  consequence,  is 
commonly  thought  of  as  an  empirical  individual  who  gives 
his  allegiance  to  visionary  schemes,  who  promises  much  and 
performs  little,  and  wbose  ways  are  those  of  a  busybody. 
Notions  of  this  sort  do  not  attach  to  men  or  to  movements 
without  some  cause,  and  for  their  existence  the  typical  munic- 
ipal reformer  of  the  last  few  decades  has  been  in  large  degree 
responsible.  General  impressions  concerning  any  public 
activity  are  apt  to  be  derived  from  the  outstanding 
personalities  connected  with  it ;  and  the  men  who  have  been 
most  often  in  the  vanguard  of  reform  movements  have  not 
always  been  of  a  sort  to  gain  much  hold  upon  the  public 
confidence.  The  reason  why  this  has  been  so  will  be 
noticed  a  little  later  on.^ 

Municipal  reform  organizations  have  been  of  various  sorts. 
Some  of  them  have  been  general  in  scope;  that  is  to  say, 
they  have  aimed  to  include  many  cities  within  their  sphere 
of  influence.  A  few  have  been  national  in  their  range  of 
activities,  trying  to  seciire  improvement  in  municipal  condi* 
tions  all  along  the  line.  Organized  agitation  of  this  sort, 
broad  in  its  field  of  effort,  may  or  may  not  be  very  definite 
in  the  things  which  it  seeks  to  accomplish.  A  few  national 
reform  organizations  have  set  no  exact  boxmds  to  their  work, 
and  do  not,  therefore,  concentrate  their  efforts  upon  any 
specific  betterment  in  municipal  administration.  Of  this 
type  the  National  Mtmicipal  League  and  the  American  Civic 
Association  afford   good   examples.    The  membership  of 


>  See  beloitr,  pp.  382-383. 


MX7NICIPAL  REFORM  A 


'FORMERS 


361 


these  associations  is  recruited  from  cities  in  all  parts  of  the 
country;  each  maintains  national  7>eitdquarters  from  which 
a  campaign  of  education  is  carried  on  in  various  directions ; 
and  each  professes  adherence  to  a  general  programme  of 
civic  improvement.  Neither  of  them  gives  its  entire  alle- 
giance to  any  single  project  of  reform,  but  each  endeavors  to 
lend  a  hand  to  every  local  movement  which  looks  promising. 
Such  organizations  render  their  chief  service  as  channels  of 
information;  they  provide  at  their  aimual  conventions 
forums  for  the  discussion  of  all  matters  which  affect  Americau 
cities  as  a  whole ;  and  to  the  information  thereby  brought 
together  they  give  a  wide  currency  through  their  printed 
proceedings  or  other  publications.*  They  have  been  called 
clearing-hoiises  for  the  exchange  of  municipal  ideas,  and  they 
have,  to  some  extent  at  any  rate,  fulfilled  the  functions  im- 
plied in  this  designation. 

Narrower  in  the  range  of  their  membership,  but  similar 
in  general  purposes  and  methods,  are  various  state  organ- 
izations, such  as  the  Mimicipal  Govenmient  ABsociation  of 
New  York  State,  the  Ohio  Municipal  Association,  or  the 
Massachusetts  Civic  League,  which  are  sometimes  aflUiated 
with  the  national  bodies  and  thereby  secure  a  certain  co- 
ordination of  work.  The  membership  of  all  these  bodies, 
whether  national  or  state,  is  made  up  mainly  of  laymen ;  it 
includes  relatively  few  men  who  are  or  have  been  in  mu- 
nicipal office.  Small  annual  dues  are  collected  from  mem- 
bers, the  revenue  gathered  in  this  way  going  to  pay  the 
salary  of  a  permanent  secretary  and  to  defray  the  cost 
of  the  reform  literature  distributed.  The  office  of  the 
secretary  is  the  focal  point  in  the  association's  enterprises, 

•  The  literature  of  the  National  Mnnioipal  League,  for  example,  in- 
cludes an  annual  volume  of  Proeeedingt,  occasional  volumes  on  special 
topics  issued  in  the  National  Municipal  Soies,  a  quarterly  publication 
known  as  the  National  Municipal  Rwiew,  beaidea  leaflets  and  clipping 
sheets  put  forth  at  frequert  int^vals. 


362 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


a.  Ifnth 

special  pro- 
srammet. 


and  in  some  of  the  state  orgi'oizations  the  duties  of  this 
official  extend  to  such  matt  .-s  as  the  drafting  of  bills  in  the 
interest  of  municipal  reform  and  the  promoting  of  thrae 
measures  before  the  legislature. 

Another  type  of  national  reform  organization,  though  as 
broad  geographically,  professes  more  definite  aims.  Such  are 
the  National  Civil  Service  Reform  League,  the  Short  Ballot 
Organization,  and  the  City  Planning  Conference,  which  bend 
their  entire  energies  to  the  extension  of  the  merit  system  of 
appointment  to  public  office,  the  reform  of  the  old-style 
ballot,  and  the  betterment  of  urban  physical  conditions 
respectively.  These  bodies  also  maintain  national  head- 
quarters, but  they  accomplish  a  good  deal  of  their  work  of 
active  propaganda  through  state  and  mimicipal  organizar 
tions  developed  under  their  auspices.  Being  more  specific  in 
their  programmes  of  effort,  they  are  able  to  obtain  results  which 
are  more  direct  and  more  tangible,  if  perhaps  no  more  im;- 
portant  in  the  long  run,  than  the  achievements  of  associa- 
tions that  spread  their  interest  over  wider  fields.  They  are 
aggressive  and  persevering  in  their  campaigns  of  education, 
and  have  not  been  daunted  by  obstacles  that  at  times 
appeared  insuperable.  On  the  whole,  their  actual  success,  as 
indicated  by  the  laws  that  have  gone  upon  the  statute-books 
through  their  efforts,  constitutes  much  more  than  a  profitable 
return  for  the  time,  patience,  and  r-;  oney  expended.  This  is  in 
part  due  to  the  fact  that  such  organizations,  unlike  those 
which  give  their  backing  to  extensive  and  inchoate  pro- 
grammes, are  able  to  mass  all  their  resources  upon  what  for 
the  moment  seems  to  be  a  vulnerable  point.  Wherever,  for 
example,  a  new  city  charter  is  being  framed,  the  efforts  of 
the  Civil  Service  Reform  League  or  of  the  Short  Ballot 
Organization  are  deflected  to  that  point  and  remain  centred 
thereuntil  the  issues  raised  are  determined  for  or  against  them. 
As  each  experience  in  this  direction  improve  the  generalship 


MUNICIPAL  RBFORM  AND  REP0RMBR8  383 

of  the  next  attempt,  a  marked  proficiency  in  the  arts  of  the 
political  evangelist  is  in  course  of  time  acquired. 
There  is  stUl  another  class  of  organisations  which,  though  s.  oAdi 
.3  not  commonly  adopt  the  termmology  of  reform,  ^JT^*^ 
is  none  the  less  an  active  agency  of  municipal  betterment'  '"^^ 
Within  this  class  are  included  the  v^jious  associai.ns  of  *^ 
municipal  corporations  or  city  officials,  such  as  the  League 
of  American  MunicipaUties,  the  various  state  leagues  of 
municipaUties,    associations   of    city   engineers    or   health 
officials  or  police  chiefs,  and  so  on.^    Such  organizations  are 
professional  in  character;  their  chief  object  is  not  the  pro- 
motion of  any  single  reform  or  set  of  reforms,  but  only  the 
interchange  of  ideas  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  members.    At 
their  meetings,  which  are  held  annuaUy  or  oftener,  p  ipers 
upon  matters  of  professional  interest  are  read  and  general 
discussions,  frequently  on  questions  of  technical  administra- 
tion, take  place.    The  service  rendered  by  bodies  of  this  sort 
in  broadening  the  horizon  of  city  officials  is  ot  great  value,  but 
there  is  still  room  for  much  progress  along  this  line.    Similar 
associations  of  city  officials  have  attained  to  great  usefuhiess 
and  influence  abroad,  particularly  in  England,  where  they 
have  had  a  considerable  share  in  developing  traditions  of  ofS- 
cial  permanence  in  the  administrative  service  of  the  boroughs. 

All  three  classes  of  organizations  named  in  the  foregoing  n.  Lo«a 
pages,— namely,  those  which  work  for  the  improvement  u^^ 
of  municipal  conditions  in  general,  those  which  give  their 
attention  to  improvement  in  one  specific  direction,  and 
those  which  afford  opportunities  for  the  officials  of  one 
municipality  to  learn  what  other  cities  are  doing,  —  aU  these 

HelSTS''?*  ""S^^^T  of  this  type  are  the  Amerioan  PabUo 
Health  Assocmbon,  the  American  Awociation  of  Park  Superintendents 
ChietTrP^l'^'lrf^  Association,  the  International  A^iaUW  of 

S.e  pLiic  r^t?  '  w^  ^^  *"•*  ^**«'  Supply  Association. 
"»e  Pao^c  Coast  Association  of  Fire  Chiefs,  the  Massachusetts  PoUm 
Association,  and  booi«b  of  others.  """"ouuseTO  I'oiice 


1     !i 


364 


OOVBRNMENT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIES 


are  inter-dvic  bodies  whose  activities  are  broader  than  the 
bounds  of  any  single  municipality.  They  are  national 
or  state  or  sectional  associations.  Another  type  of  reform 
organization,  however,  of  which  there  are  more  numerous 
examples,  is  the  local  reform  society  which  carries  on  its 
rrork  within  the  limits  of  a  single  city.  If  one  includes  within 
the  category  of  mimicipal  reform  organizations  all  those 
bodies  which  are  engaged  in  some  field  of  political  or  social 
amelioration,  the  nimiber  would  prove  astonishingly  large  in 
any  of  our  great  cities.  In  the  metropolitan  district  of 
Boston  a  census  of  such  organizations,  taken  two  years  ago, 
showed  that  there  were  1658  of  them  in  alL  This  number  in> 
eluded  societies  engaged  in  every  field  of  reform,  whether 
political,  social,  educational,  or  sesthetic,  and  ranging  in 
size  and  importance  from  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  with 
5000  members  to  neighborhood  improvement  leagues  with 
rmbership  lists  which  sometimes  did  not  include  more 
than  a  dozen  names.^  In  their  professed  purposes  these 
associations  cover  the  whole  arena  of  civic  effort;  yet  in 
fundamental  motive  they  are  so  nearly  akin  that  most 
of  their  aims  could  readily  be  formulated  into  a  single  reform 
programme.  An  enurieration  made  on  a  less  compre- 
hensive scale  in  St  Louis  last  year  resulted  in  the  publi- 
cation of  a  directory  -' ^nizations  which  covers  over 
forty  pages,  without  .  r^  societies  that  are  purely 

political,  social,  or  cti.  .oh  in  their  activities.*  It  is 
hard  to  say  just  where  the  line  should  be  drawn  between 
bodies  which  ought  to  be  reckoned  as  agents  of  municipal 
betterment  and  those  which  ought  not ;  but  even  under  the 
strictest  interpretation  the  category  of  the  former  is  un- 
questionably large  in  all  great  American  cities. 

>  Handbook  of  BoaUm-191B,  21. 

'  Directory  of  Cwie  and  Btuineat  Aasoeiatiom  of  Saint  LovU,  iinud  by 
the  Civie  L^tgoe  of  St.  Louis.  May,  1911. 


MUNICIPAL  TIIFORM  AND  REP0RMER8  365 

Taking  these  local  reform  oi«ani,ation»  as  a  whole,  they  i.  Loe., 
may  be  grouped  according  to  their  purposes  and  methods  into  S^' 
five  dasses.    In  the  first  pUce,  there  is  the  reform  association 
which  assumes  the  r61e  of  a  poUtical  party.    An  example  of 
this  type  was  afforded  for  many  years  by  the  Citiiens'  Union 
of  New  York.    T^  body,  organised  in  1897  with  a  Urge 
and  influential  membership,  developed  aU  the  machineiy  of 
a  regular  poUtical  party,  put  its  own  candidates  in  the  field, 
conducted  a  campaign  for  their  election,  and  provided  iu 
own  campaign  funds.    It  drew  its  adherents  from  both 
the  n«uhir  political  parties,  and  at  the  outset  was  opposed 
by  both  party  organizations.    At  the  New  York  municipal  Th.ati. 
election  of  1897  it  undertook  to  elect  its  own  sUte  of  candi-  SIS'^^ 
dates  without  the  aid  of  either  one;  and,  although  it  fafled  to  ^oAto 
secure  this  result,  it  did  succeed  in  drawing  over  160,000  votes  "''' 
to  Its  nominee  for  the  mayoralty.    The  experience  demon- 
strated what  has  since  been  shown  in  some  other  cities,-that 
the  task  of  electing  municipal  officers  in  the  face  of  opposi- 
tion  from  both  the  regular  poUtical  parties  is  one  of  great 
difficulty,  unless  there  are  outstanding  issues  upon  which  the 
ranks  of  the  reguUr  parties  can  be  badly  broken.    For  an  in- 
dependent organization  to  provide  the  machinery  and  the 
funds  necessary  for  such  a  campaign  is  in  itself  a  big  under- 
takmg ;  but  to  gain  a  majority  of  the  votes  at  the  poUs  is 
more^difficult  stm  unless  the  circumstances  are  veiy  excep- 

More  favored  with  tangible  results  are  those  reform  oi-  2  Fu^ 
gamzations  which,  instead  of  selecting  and  attempting  to  ^"'^ 
secure  the  election  of  their  own  candidates  independently     ""' 
work  hand  in  hand  with  one  of  the  regukr  poUtical  parties, 
usually  with  the  minority.    This  was  the  poUcy  pursued 
by  the  Citizens'  Union  in  the  New  York  campaign  of  1901 
when,  by  joining  hands  with  the  RepubUcan  party  in  a 
fusion  arrangement,  it  achieved  the  election  of   a  joint 


mmt 


306 


QOVIRMMBNT  OF  AMIRICAN  CITIB8 


ThediO. 
miltiMof 
Aidon. 


ilate.  A  Bimilar  plan  hM  been  foUowed,  although  not  lo 
openly,  by  the  Citizens'  Municipal  League  of  Boston  and  by 
like  organizations  in  other  cities.  From  thb  nature  of  things, 
success  is  more  easily  obtained  by  fusion  or  codperation  than 
by  independent  effort.  Codperation  with  one  of  the  regular 
parties  secures  the  services  of  an  organisation  already  in 
existence,  and  guarantees  the  candidates  a  large  number  of 
votes  from  straight  party  adherents.  All  that  the  reform 
element  has  to  do  is  to  split  off  from  the  dominant  party 
enough  votes  to  turn  the  scale,  obviously  a  much  easier  task 
than  building  up  an  organization  from  the  ground  and 
mustering  support  enough  to  outvote  both  the  established 
parties.  It  requires  less  money  for  campaign  expenses  and 
less  individual  effort. 

But  when  fusion,  whether  avowed  or  not,  manages  to 
succeed,  its  success  is  rarely  productive  of  great  improve- 
ment in  either  the  personnel  or  the  work  of  municipal 
administration.  When  a  reform  organization  acts  in  unison 
with  one  of  the  regular  parties,  it  must  perforce  yield  much  of 
its  freedom  in  the  selection  of  candidates ;  it  must  give  its 
support  to  those  who  are  acceptable  to  its  ally.  A  fusion 
ticket  is,  accordingly,  one  of  mottled  quality,  bearing  the 
names  of  some  whose  personal  claims  do  not  entitle  them 
to  a  place  upon  it,  but  who  are  taken  on  as  the  price  of  par- 
tisan support  for  the  entire  slate.  Moreover,  since  the  regular 
party  organization  which  takes  a  large  part  in  the  electoral 
battle  demands  its  share  in  the  spoils  of  victory,  a  fusion 
administration,  when  installed  in  poww,  is  not  likdy  to 
be  much  less  partisan  than  one  which  goes  into  office  with  a 
plain  party  designation.  That,  at  any  rate,  seems  thus  far  to 
have  been  the  usual  character  of  such  administrations. 
Even  the  so-termed  "  non-partisan  "  movements  that  have 
been  laimched  in  many  American  cities  repre*  -nt  in  most  cases 
the  rather  thinly  veiled  attempt  of  a  minority  party  to  gain  a 


MUNICIPAL  BirOBM  AND  RlfORlilltS  867 

grip  upon  affain  at  the  eity  hall  by  profcMing  to  be  what  it  it 
not.    Such  movements  occadonally  miooeed  for  a  time ;  but 
the  cloven  hoof  soon  discloses  itself,  and  the  vo'  jrs  decline  to 
be  further  misled  by  the  hollow  professions  of  merely  titular 
non-partisanship.    The  reform   organisation  which   allies 
itself  with  any  regular  party  machine  sdUi  its  owl       'hri^t 
for  the  pottage  of  transitory  success ;  for  the  principlfls  of  all 
municipal  reform  worthy  of  the  name  run  counter  to  those 
upon  which  regular  party  organisations  are  usually  built. 
When  reform,  therefore,  yokes  itself  with  a  political  machine 
(which  in  municipal  politics  means  almost  always  the  stota 
organization),  it  sacrifices  its  claim  to  the  all^panee  of  all 
those  who  believe  that  municipal  campaigns  should  turn 
upon  local  issues.    Government  by  a  political  machine 
disguised  in  the  garb  of  reform,  non-partisanship,  fusion, 
or  independence  has  been  imposed  upon  us  too  frequoitly; 
but  its  day  has  now  about  come  to  an  end.    There  are 
situations,  to  be  sure,  in  which  the  cause  of  municipal  better- 
ment can  be  furthered  by  the  aid  of  an  established  political 
organisation;  but  as  a  matter  of  aq)mence  they  do  not 
occur  very  often.    In  the  long  run  it  is  better  for  the  cause 
of  reform  to  avoid  entangling  alliances.    To  say  that  it  can- 
not make  headway  without  combining  its  forces  with  bodies 
whose  ideals  are  at  variance  with  its  own  is  to  confess  that 
reform,  as  reform,  cannot  succeed  at  Jl. 

There  is,  however,  one  line  of  action  whoreby  those 
earnest  in  their  desire  for  an  improvemoit  in  the  C8 
municipal  office-holders  can  exert  a  v«y  subs  a 
fluence  at  the  elections ;  and  this  is  the  policy  ad(^te 
third  type  of   municipal  reform   organization.     1 
example  of  this  class,  and  the  one  most  commonly  us  _ 

illustration,  is  the  Municipal  Voters'  League  of  Chk  =p).» 

» A  full  Mywnnt  of  the  history,  aims,  and  achi«v«m^t8  <St  this  s^      i,- 
tion  may  be  found  ia  a  pamphlet  iwued  by  it  in  19ia 


>o  aro  3.  NoD- 

,  partina 

oer  of  onuisa* 

in-  *''»* 

ir  the 


mmmm 


OOVIRNMINT  or  AMIRICAN  CITm 


Chicago. 


This  ftMociation  was  established  in  189^  by  a  eommittM 
of  one  hundred  citisens  made  up  of  one  Republican  and  ont 
Democrat  from  each  of  the  thirty-four  wards  then  in  the 
TiwMnidei.  city,  and  thirty-two  members  chosen  from  the  dty  at  U(|(e 
Ui!k^  without  reference  to  political  affiliations.  The  League  came 
into  existence  at  a  time  when  the  Chicago  city  council  had 
become  so  hopelessly  inefficient  in  its  management  of  the 
city's  business  that  well-founded  rumors  of  corruption  were 
eversrwhore  in  the  air.  Several  thousand  voters  wen 
enrolled  as  members  of  the  new  organization,  and  its  work  was 
at  once  begun.  For  sixteen  years  the  Municipal  Votors* 
League  has  steadily  held  itself  aloof  from  the  regular  political 
parties;  it  has  never  put  forward  candidates  either  in  its 
own  behalf  or  in  avowed  alliance  with  any  other  political 
body.  Its  sole  work  has  been  to  investigate  tlie  records  of 
candidates  nominated  by  the  regular  party  organisations, 
and  to  publish  the  results  of  these  investigations.  Pro- 
ceeding  upon  the  principle  that  those  who  come  forward  as 
candidates  for  elective  office  ought  to  be  willing  to  have  the 
widest  publicity  given  to  their  records,  it  obtains  all  the  in- 
formation concerning  their  capabilities  and  experience  that 
is  likely  to  prove  useful  in  guiding  voters,  and  this  informa- 
tion, together  with  its  own  conclusions  based  thereon,  it 
presents  in  printed  form  to  every  voter  in  the  city.  It 
advises  the  election  of  some  and  the  defeat  of  others ;  but 
obviously  it  does  not  assume  to  guarantee  the  future  capacity 
or  integrity  of  those  whom  it  recommends  to  the  voters,  'r" 
it  has  nothing  to  do  with  selecting  the  candidates.  In  ' 
few  cases,  when  such  action  has  seemed  necessary  to  secure 
at  least  one  fit  candidate  in  some  ward,  the  Municipal  Voters' 
League  has  cooperated  with  citizens  of  the  neighborhood  in 
persuading  some  suitable  aspirant  to  take  the  field. 

The  machinery  of  the  organization  is  simple.    Its  oitire 
membership,  which  numbers  ove*  3000  voters,  is  never  called 


ItamMhin- 
ery. 


MUNICIPAL  RirORM  Ai''     KITORIiflRS  SeO 

together ;  the  work  is  directed  by  an  executive  committee  of 
nine  memben  elected  for  «  three-year  term,  three  of  whom 
retire  annuaUy.  Thii  committee  has  the  sole  authority  to 
commit  the  organisation  for  or  against  any  candidate  or 
measure.  Each  year  the  League,  through  its  executive 
committee,  adopts  a  brief  platform  relating  to  current  mu- 
nicipal issues.  This  is  presented  to  eveiy  candidate  for  his 
signature,  and  information  as  to  whether  he  gives  or  refuses 
adherence  to  it  is  printed  in  the  pamphlet  sent  to  the  voters. 
An  examination  of  the  olatforms  adopted  during  the  last  few 
years  reveals  the  fr.  t,  while  most  of  the  principles 

enunciated  in  theui  .u  ...  a  general  and  rather  non-conten- 
tious nature,  some  oi  them  apply  specifically  to  definite 
issues  pending  before  the  pubUc.»  Candidates  who  give 
adherence  to  the  platform  do  so  by  pledging  that  they  will 
work  and  vote  both  in  committee  and  on  the  floor  of  the  coun- 
cil to  cany  out  all  the  principles  which  it  sets  forth. 

The  work  of  the  Municipal  Voters'  League  has  been  so'itt 
successful  as  to  attract  attention  throughout  the  country. 

>  H«t«  tnmttm  lUma  ftom  ths  fiaOona  of  1911 :  — 

"8eo^.  TlielwrithMidw«lf»reoftl»peopl»dep«Miin»lMHeiMMu» 

upon  hygimis  and  nnitary  eonditioiu,  ud  erwy  aMcrmui  ihoold  itrive 

to  J'ave  thm  oonstMitly  immoved  and  maintaiiied  ia  the  bwt  poMible 

>t«        The  jntbUe  hwdth  dundd  in  no  inatanoe  be  MwriitiMd  to  speefaa 

.3.7.  The  dty  in  aU  Its  departmenta  ihould  have  •  thoiw 
ough  and  bodnaadike  ayatmn  of  aoooontinc  and  aoditing.  Thnwch 
periodic  examinations  the  employment  oT  experta,  and  the  teohnieal  atody 
of  funotiona, adminiaf ration. and  requiranienta  of  the varioua  bnnoheadT 
mumcjpal  government,  improved  buainaaa  methods  ahonld  be  introdnoed 
into  aU  of  them;  so  that  not  only  may  eoonomies  be  effected,  bat  the 
most  approved  and  skilled  service  nndered  to  the  people. 

'Sec.  a  An  aldcrmaa  should  uphdd  the  strict  enforaemoit  of  the 
civil  service  law  and  the  apphoation  of  the  merit  system  to  manidpal 
employmrat.  -.uii«»pai 

"Sec.  10.  No  grant  should  be  made  for  any  pubUo  ntility  without 
exprwsly  reserving  to  the  city  the  opportunity  for  municipal  purchase,  at 
or  bef<m  the  expiration  of  such  grant,  upon  fair  terms  and  reasonable 

notK3e.   ..."  J*B 

aa 


370 


oovern2i:ent  of  American  cities 


h: 


In  1896,  when  it  began  its  operations,  it  branded  as  corrupt  or 
unfit  fifty-eight  out  of  sixty-eight  aldermen,  some  of  whom 
were  eliminated  at  the  veiy  next  municipal  election ;  and 
by  1901  it  had  secured  for  Chicago  a  city  council  of  which  a 
majority  of  the  members  bore  the  stamp  of  its  approval. 
During  the  last  ten  years  this  control  has  been  maintained ; 
at  no  time  have  the  regular  party  organizations  been  able, 
save  in  a  few  wards,  to  elect  men  whom  the  League  has 
designated  as  unfit.  Since  1900  about  eighty-five  per  cent 
of  the  candidates  receiving  its  indorsement  have  been 
elected,  and  after  fifteen  years  of  active  existence  it  remains 
an  exceedingly  influential  force  in  the  poUtics  of  the  city. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Chicago  city  coimcil  is  a  more 
important  arm  of  local  government  than  are  corresponding 
bodies  in  most  other  large  American  cities,  and  that  it  has 
had,  during  the  last  half-dozen  years,  several  difficult  munici- 
pal questions  (such  as  traction  franchises)  to  deal  with,  the 
service  rendered  by  the  League  has  been  of  incalculable 
value.  It  is,  indeed,  due  largely  to  its  efforts  that  the  mu- 
nicipal council  of  Chicago  is,  for  its  size,  one  of  the  best  in 
the  United  States  both  in  the  average  caUber  of  the  men 
chosen  to  it  and  in  its  methods  of  work. 

Several  other  large  cities  have  reform  organizations 
somewhat  similar  in  structure  and  in  general  activities,  but 
other  eitiea.  nQng  j^ave  been  80  imiformly  effective.  The  Good  Govern- 
ment Association  of  Boston  has  come  to  be  a  very  influential 
factor  in  the  pohtics  of  that  city  since  the  municipal  coimcil 
was  reorganized  in  1909.  Of  the  nine  councilmen  now  in 
office  all  but  one  were  elected  with  its  indorsement,  in  most 
cases  after  a  clear-cut  contest  against  candidates  put  forward 
by  a  regular  party  organization.  The  Municipal  Association 
of  Cleveland,  the  Civic  League  of  St.  Louis,  and  similar 
bodies  in  various  other  cities  also  do  good  service.  In  addition 
to  their  work  of  investigatirg  and  reporting  upon  candidates, 


ffimilar 
organisa- 
tions in 


MUNICIPAL  REFOBM  AND  REFORMERS  371 

these  organkations  in  some  cases  keep  close  watch  throughout 
the  year  upon  everything  that  goes  on  at  the  city  haU,  and* 
publish  the  results  of  their  observations  for  the  infonnation 
of  voters. 

Organizations  that  confine  their    efforts  to  the  fields  ThetMkof 
above  outlined  are  able  to  do  very  elBFective  work  without  SJo^?*^ 
any  great  expenditure  of  money.    The  services  of  a  perma-  "*  "* 
nent  secretary  are  required,  there  is  some  expense  for  liter- 
ature, and  at  election  time  an  outlay  is  necessary  in  order 
to  secure  accurate  information  concerning  the  records  of 
candidates.    But  there  are  no  campaign  expenses  in  the 
ordinary  sense;    for  such  associations  do  not  regularly 
undertake  to  secure,  through  the  ordinary  channels,  the  elec- 
tion of  those  candidates  to  whom  they  give  their  indorsement. 
The  ever-present  danger  is,  however,  that  such  an  organiza- 
tion in  a  city  may  be  captured  by  active  partisans.    The  re- 
form association  that  gives  its  stamp  to  ill-qualified  candi- 
dates because  of  their  party  affiliations,  or  for  the  same  reason 
denies  indorsement  to  others,  very  quickly  loses  its  hold 
upon  pubUc  confidence;  and,  since  all  men  are  partisan  to 
a  greater  extent  than  they  commonly  realize,  it  is  no  easy 
matter  to  maintain  a  course  of  strict  impartiality.     When 
the  indorsement  of  a  reform  organization   once  becomes 
a  recognized   poHtical  asset,    machine  leaders   spare  no 
pains  to  capture  this  label  for  their  own  candidates;  and  the 
ways  in  which  they  seek  to  do  this  are  sometimes  very  in- 
genious.   Not  a  few  such  organizations  have  failed  to  with- 
stand the  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  them  in  the  interest 
of  regular  party  candidates  by  men  who  are  reputedly  above 
such  tactics,  but  who  have  attained  to  influence  in  the  coun- 
sels of  the  reform  cause  by  Uberal  contributions  to  its  funds. 

A  fourth  class  of  reform  organizations  includes  that  legion  4,  Nmh 
of  associations,  clubs,  leagues,  federations,  and  so  on  which  SSSL 
are  chiefly  civic  in  aim,  but  which  do  not  participate  actively  S^ST^ 


372 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


in  municipal  politics  by  nominating  or  indorsing  or  cam- 
paigning   for    candidates.     These    are    commonly    called 
citizens*    leagues,    taxpayers'    associations,    improvement 
societies,   or   refonn   clubs.     Their   activities   are   varied. 
Most  of  them  hold  meetings  from  time  to  time  and  hear 
addresses  upon  matters  of  current  municipal  interest ;  some 
issue  pamphlets  occasionally,  and  a  few  have  regular  bulletins. 
Nearly  all  of  them  come  forward  at  times  with  proposals 
for  the  consideration  of  either  the  local  or  the  state  authori- 
ties, and  delegations  from  them  are  constantly  pressing  some 
project  of  municipal  betterment  before  legislative  committees 
or  some  municipal   authority.    Each   association  of  this 
type  is  apt  to  have  its  own  specialty.    One  b  most  con- 
cerned with  civil-service  reform,  another  with  playgrounds 
and  places  of  recreation,  a  third  with  the  abatement  of 
bill-board  nuisances,  a  fourth  with  the  problem  of  laying 
adequate  restrictions  upon  public-service  companies,  a  fifth 
with  the  reform  of  municipal  accounting,  and  so  on.    The 
methods  pursued  are  adapted  to  the  ends  in  view,  and  they 
differ  just  as  widely.    All  such  organizations,  of  course,  need 
money  for  their  work,  and  they  usually  obtain  it  either  from 
The  work  of  membership  dues  or  from  general  subscriptions.    The  total 
theae  bodies  ^mount  gathered  in  this  way  by  the  host  of  betterment  or- 
ganizations that  exist  in  every  great  city  must  be  enormous  each 
year ;  yet  the  tangible  results  that  come  from  its  expenditure 
are  astonishingly  meagre.    One  reason  for  this  situation  is 
that  much  of  the  money  is  spent  in  ways  that  are  wholly  or 
partly  ineffective.    Salaries  and  clerical  expenses  devour 
most  of  the  income  which  the  average  reform  organization 
is  able  to  secure.    A  secretary  is  usually  employed,  and  the 
salary  of  this  official,  together  with  clerk  hire  and  office  rent, 
may  easily  absorb  two-thirds  or  more  of  the  year's  revenue. 
Many  reform  organizations  regularly  present  the  curious 
spectacle  of  a  secretary  who  spends  most  of  his  time  gathering 


Mflfl 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  AJID  REFORMERS  373 

funds  for  the  association  and  then  uses  most  of  these  funds  to 
pay  for  the  time  he  has  spent  in  gathering  them.  Some  of 
these  bodies  seem  to  take  it  for  granted  tha*,  their  mere  exist- 
ence constitutes  a  pubUc  service;  at  any  rate,  the  compla- 
cent lethargy  which  their  paid  officials  frequently  display 
would  not  be  tolerated  in  any  regular  municipal  employees, 
slothful  as  many  of  the  Utter  may  be.  All  our  larger  cities 
fairly  abound  in  organizations  which  bear  impressive  names 
and  whose  officials  from  time  to  time  put  themselves  for- 
ward  as  the  spokesmen  of  important  elements  in  the  commu- 
nity, when,  as  a  matter  of  plain  truth,  some  of  them  do  not 
possess  a  corporal's  guard  of  members  and  perform  no  pubUc 
service  worthy  of  the  name. 

Municipal  waste  through  the  masterly  inactivity  of  pubUc  Thdri^k 
officials  and  through  the  failure  of  different  departments  to  t^"^ 
work  in  harmony  has  become  proverbial.    Yet  it  may  be 
debated  whether  pubUc  authority  has  displayed  these  short- 
comings in  a  degree  relatively  greater  than  that  shown  by 
civic-welfare  organizations  as  a  whole.    The  overlapping 
of  effort  among  these  latter  is  so  notorious  as  to  warrant  the 
suggestion  that  the  professed  friends  of  municipal  reform 
should  begin  by  setting  their  own  house  in  order.    Every 
large  city  has  within  its  bounds  hundreds  of  betterment 
organizations  at  work  in  the  same  general  field  of  effort 
without   the  sHghtest   reference  to  one   another.    Actual 
cooperation  among  them  is  almost  unknown ;  at  best  it  exists 
only  as  a  principle  to  which  they  have,  at  some  time  or  other 
given  a  perfunctoiy  adherence.*    In  Boston  at  the  present 

"to'I^ti°°I[!Tit  ^""^  "  "Boston-IMS"  had  M  its  principal  aim 
t^nlT^  »»>out  the  «jtive  oofiperation  of  aU  oiwmizationa  wUch  are 
Sfn"  <^°  "•^ft^'o'"  the  improvement  of  Uving  conditions  in  Greater 
ftTe  nrLnl  H  *■  '"^"^  '^'^  '°'^**  '^'^  task  too  great    In  St.  LoS 

hmmye  sca^e.  to  secure  ooSperation  among  about  thirty  of  the  more  im^ 
portant  omo  associations. 


374 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


hi 


S.  Miacd* 
laneoua 
org»nii*- 
tiou. 


moment  there  are  no  fewer  than  six  distinct  organizations 
investigating  the  housing  conditions  of  the  city  with  a 
view  to  framing  remedial  measures.  No  one  of  these 
investigations  is  at  all  likely  to  prove  comprehensive, 
thorough,  or  reliable,  for  the  reason  that  the  resources  of 
none  of  the  individual  societies  suffice  to  make  it  so.  Each 
will  cover  the  field  in  part,  and  each  will  doubtless  reach  its 
own  conclusions.  Yet  the  energy  and  fimds  which  are  being 
devoted  to  this  task  would,  if  concentrated  mider  a  single 
directing  authority,  be  ample  to  have  the  whole  research 
made  m  businesslike  fashion.  Thus  it  is  that  the  organisa- 
tions which  so  readily  berate  cicy  departments  for  imbusi- 
nesslike  methods  are  themselves  often  open  to  the  vay 
same  criticism  in  greater  degree.  A  clearing-house  of  reform 
activities,  —  that  is  to  say,  a  recognized  centre  at  which 
each  association  can  find  out  what  others  are  doing  and 
through  which  wasteful  duplication  of  effort  can  be  avoided, 
—  is  one  of  the  chief  municipal  needs  of  the  present  day. 

Finally,  there  are  organizations  which,  though  avowedly 
commercial,  industrial,  professional,  or  social  in  purpose, 
regularly  lend  their  support  to  movements  for  municipal 
reform.  The  chambers  of  commerce,  boards  of  trade, 
and  merchants'  associations,  the  labor  unions,  the  medical 
societies  and  associations  of  architects,  the  city  clubs  which 
have  been  established  in  the  large  municipalities,  aU  afford 
examples  of  this  type.  Many  of  these  bodies,  especially  the 
commercial  organizations,  maintain  regular  committeeb  on 
municipal  matters,  which  follow  closely  all  that  h  going  on  at 
the  city  hall  or  the  state  capitol.*  Their  point  of  view  is  of 
course  primarily  businesslike  or  professional,  but  incidentally 
they  are  useful  agencies  for  calling  public  attention  to  pending 

'For  exbmples,  see  the  annual  reports  of  the  Boston  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  the  Cleveland  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  the  Naw  Orie&BS 
Board  of  Trade. 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  AND  REFORMERS  375 

proposals  end  promoting  discussion  among  the  various  in- 
terests affected.     By  passing  resolutions  and  transmitting 
them  to  the  mayor  or  the  city  council,  they  manage  to  secure 
a  representation  of  their  views.    The  labor  unions  in  par- 
ticular  have  adopted  the  poUcy  of  putting  upon  record  their 
opimons  concerning  municipal  mattere,  and  their  resolu- 
tions  embodying  such  expressions  of  opinion  cany  con- 
siderable weight  with    elective  officials.     Some  of  these 
miscellaneous  bodies,  particularly  the  chambers  of  com- 
merce and  the  professional  organizations,  have  conducted 
thorough  mv  atigations  into  various  branches  of  local  ad- 
ministration and  have  put  the  results  into   pubUcations 
which  are  of  permanent  value.    Although  the  attention 
^mch  aU  such  associations  give  to  strictly  municipal  mattere 
IS  rather  incidental,  it  is  nevertheless  of  great  service 
for  business  and  professional  bodies  aro  influential  in  mould- 
mg  pubUc  opinion.    When  several  of  these  organizations 
range  themselves  behind  any  pubUc  project,  they  give  it 
momentum ;  but  the  trouble  is  that  they  are  seldom  found 
ranged  together. 

An  interesting  development  of  the  hist  two  decades  has  been  ti«  dtr 
the  nse  of  the  city  club.  New  York  led  the  way  in  1892  *•»* 
by  establishiQg  an  organization  which  endeavore  to  combine 
the  usual  facilities  of  a  social  club  with  those  pertaining  to  a 
centre  of  civic  activity.  This  club  provides  a  forum  for  the 
discussion  of  municipal  questions,  maintains  several  active 
committees,  examines  and  makes  known  the  records  of  candi- 
dates for  public  office,  follows  up  compUunts  made  by  citizens 
against  officials,  furnishes  briefs  to  membere  of  the  legisla- 
ture advising  them  '  ^ts  attitude  on  aU  measures  reUting 
to  New  York  City,  t  issues  a  monthly  bulletin  which  gives 
due  pubMcity  to  its  work.  Qubs  modeUed  along  similar 
hnes  have  since  been  estabhshed  in  Chicago,  Philadelphia, 
i>t.  Louis,  Boston,  MUwaukee,  Indianapolis,  Los  Angeles, 


376 


QOVERNMBNT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


Bunaniof 

munieipal 

wnweh, 


and  other  cities.  The  greatest  service  rendered  by  these 
societies  consists  in  providing  a  rallying-point  for  all  those 
who  are  interested  in  mimicipal  progress,  no  matter  what 
particular  form  their  interest  may  assume.  When  main- 
tained upon  a  popular  basis,  they  serve  to  bring  into  direct 
personal  contact  men  who  represent  every  element  in  the 
citizenship  of  the  community.  By  thtis  broadening  the 
realm  of  mutual  acquaintanceship  and  encouraging  the 
interchange  of  ideas,  they  hava  become  highly  useful  insti- 
tutions of  civic  education. 

In  enumerating  the  organized  forces  of  civic  improvement 
one  should  make  particular  mention  of  the  various  bureaus  of 
research  now  in  operation  in  a  dozen  or  more  of  the  larger 
cities  of  the  United  States.  These  institutions,  organized 
more  or  less  closely  upon  the  model  of  the  parent  bureau  in 
New  York  City,  are  a  development  of  the  last  decade  in 
American  mimicipal  government.  Sometimes,  as  in  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  they  are  supported  by  private 
contributions  and  are  under  the  control  of  citizen  trustees  or 
directors.  In  other  cities,  as  in  Baltimore,  Boston,  and 
Milwaukee,  they  are  maintained  by  public  fimds  and  are 
under  official  direction.  In  either  case  tlie  bureau  is  an 
institution  for  the  thorou^  study  of  actual  conditions  in 
its  own  city ;  it  possesses  a  staff  of  investigators  who  probe 
their  way  into  every  branch  of  the  municipal  service  and 
emerge  with  data  upon  which  they  base  recommendations 
for  improvement.  The  New  York  bureau,  which  is  the 
oldest  among  them,  has  completed  six  years  of  work 
covering  a  wide  range  and  carried  on  at  a  very  large  annual 
expense.   It  has  published  a  formidable  amount  of  literature.* 


*  A  complete  aooount  of  ita  work  may  be  found  in  the  pabliofttion  eop 
titled  Six  Yearg  </  Municipal  Retttsrehfor  ATew  York  City,  imiied  in  JMraai7« 
1912.  See  alao  the  chapter  on  "An  Acenoy  of  Citizen  Inquiry"  in  F.  A. 
Cleveland'!  Munieipal  Adminiitralion  and  Accounting  (New  York,  1900). 


MUNICIPAL  EBPORM  AND  REFORMEBS  377 

These  bureaus  take  it  upon  themselves  to  act  as  pvbKc  ad-  PHudpi- 
^rBmmattersthatare,for  the  most  part, too  complicated  ^^ 
and  too  techmcal  for  the  pubUc  to  understand  and  form  ^^ 
cpmions  upon  without  assistance.    Their  very  existence,  in  '^ 
fact,  rests  upon  the  idea  that  the  greater  part  of  the  city's 
business  w  technical,  and  hence  that  the  city's  treasunr  com. 

r.n  f  '^Z'^TJ:^'^  ^"'^^^  ^""  *°  ^«ffi"«^t  methods 
than  ft^m  official  dishonesty.    They  assume,  quite  properly, 

hat  before  these  leakages  can  be  stopped  their  exav    loca- 
tion must  be  disclosed,  and  beKeve  that  this  is  a  task     • 
iDvol^g  patient  study  by  trained  men.    After  the  sources 
of  waste  have  been  plainly  indicated  to  the  voto«  by  con- 

vmcmge^dencc'.ubUc  opinion,  they  declare,  may  be  trusted 
to  exert  all  the  pressure  that  is  needed  to  effect  a  reform. 
In  a  word,  the  bureau  of  municipal  research  aims  to  proide 
an  effwrtive  centre  of  trustworthy  information  and  to  bring 
this  information  to  the  ears  of  every  citizen  by  a  persist^ 
and  usuaUy  a  somewhat  origimd  pubUcity  campaign. 

lakmg  aU  these  organizations  together,  national   and  wi.  i.   ^ 
local,  political,  semi-poUtical,  and  noi^politiU  the  baU^'  ^   " 
^  of  cmc  betterment  make  up  an  impressive  array.  ^ 
Why  have  they  not  accomplished  more?    Why  does  citv        "^^ 
govemm^t  remain,  in  spite  of  their  efforts,  the  one  con- 
spicuous  failure  of  the  American  democracy?    These  are 
qu^tions  earier  to  propomid  than  to  answer,  though  some 
of  the  superficial  reasons  for  the  habitual  faUure  of  reform 
to  ac  ueve  tangible  results  are  not  far  to  seek. 

In  the  first  place,  untfl  very  recent  years  most  organized  it.i«k«, 
reform  movements  approached  things  from  a  wrong  angle   f'^^ 
They  compkcently  accepted  the  stupefying  formulasofTcal  ^S"*^ 
govermnent  which  they  found  in  full  sway,  being  always  at 
great  pams  to  forestall  any  possible  public  misgivin«  by 
professing  their  aUegiance  to  the  principle  of  divided^we™ 
and  other  such  orthodox  canons  of  poUtical  science.    They 


I 


878 


OOVBRNMBMT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


assured  the  citizens  that  the  ensting  machinery  of  city 
government  was  not  seriously  defective,  but  that  the  trouble 
lay  wholly  with  the  men  who  were  in  control  of  it.  In  thdr 
eyes,  therefore,  the  obvious  remedy  was  to  oust  from  office 
those  whose  incompetence  or  lack  of  integrity  had  befouled 
the  administration,  and  to  put  capable,  honest,  high-prin- 
cipled men  in  their  room.*  Not  the  reconstruction  but  the 
purification  of  municipal  politics  was  long  the  goal  of  reform. 
But  campaigns  of  civic  betterment  starting  from  this  assump- 
tion and  aiming  at  this  result  inevitably  found  themselves 
confronted  with  great  di^culties.  For  one  thing,  men  in 
office  were  not  easy  to  dislodge ;  so  long  as  patronage  was 
abundant,  elective  office-holders  held  their  opponents  under 
a  serious  handicap.  For  another  thing,  the  "  honest,  public- 
spirited,  capable,  and  well-trained  men"  whom  it  was  deemed 
so  imperative  to  put  into  power  almost  always  proved  to  be 
of  the  type  which  looks  upon  all  public  service  as  a  private 
sacrifice.  They  were  hard  to  draw  into  the  ar^ia  of  munic- 
ipal politics,  and  rarely  proved  to  be  good  campaigners 
when  they  got  there.  The  very  existence  of  this  situation 
should  have  been  ample  proof  to  the  leaders  of  reform  that 
they  were  proceeding  on  a  faulty  diagnosis.  There  are  times, 
no  doubt,  when,  from  no  fault  of  the  scheme  of  admimstrap 
tion,  circumstances  may  for  the  moment  be  such  as  to  deter 
capable  men  from  willingly  entering  the  service  of  the  city. 
But  when  such  a  situation  becomes  normal,  when  year  in  and 
year  out  the  efficient  servi3e  of  society  means  personal  sacri- 
fice even  to  men  of  proved  public  spirit,  the  trouble  cannot 
lie  anywhere  else  than  in  the  conditions  under  which  the 
service  has  to  be  performed.     The  cause  of  reform  was  long 

>  In  1894  tiie  Honorable  Cari  Sehon,  one  of  the  moit  yaliuit  of  mnnki* 
pal  reConnen,  dedared  that  there  was  "not  a  municipal  Kovemmeat  in 
this  ooontry,  on  wliatever  pattern  organized,"  whieh  would  "not  wtarkweB 
when  administered  by  honest,  publio-epirited,  capable,  and  waU-tniaad 
men"  (National  MunioipiJ  Lrague,  Proeeeding$,  1884,  p.  123). 


MUNICIPAL  RIPOBM  AND  BBPOBMim 


379 


nuBguided,  thnefore,  by  the  notion  th*t  munidpal  ills  were 
perwmal  matters,  whereas  in  point  of  fact  they  lay  far  beyond 
the  mere  personnel  of  city  government.  They  were  organic, 
and  their  ravages  continued  deq>ite  year-to-year  changes  in 
the  occupancy  of  official  posts. 

Efforts  insfrired  by  the  beUef  that  individuals  and  not  msti-  Bafom  to 
tutions  were  at  fault  naturaUy  led  to  sterility  in  results.  At  ^ZStL 
times  the  reform  organisations  managed,  in  spite  of  handicaps,  «*suia. 
to  put  thdr  nominees  in  municipal  office ;  then  th^  would 
rest  up<m  their  weapons  to  await  the  promised  millennium. 
But  the  anticipated  results  were  rardy  forthcoming.  The 
mechanic,  however  capable  and  honest,  found  that  he  could 
not  do  effective  work  with  the  tools  that  were  at  hand.  The 
political  shackles  imposed  upon  the  reform  official  in  the 
performance  of  his  functions,  the  mase  of  legal  restrictions 
that  he  encountered  at  every  turn,  the  small  modicimi  of  real 
power  intrusted  to  him,  all  combined  to  thwart  his  efforts 
at  constructive  work.  In  a  whole  term  of  office,  therefore,  he 
was  usually  able  to  accomplish  no  more  than  some  pomy- 
saving  improvemmts  which  were  far  from  redeeming  the 
preelection  promises  so  freely  made  by  reform  campaigners.* 

In  due  time,  however,  the  need  of  organic  reform  obtained  onuie 
recognition,  and  movements  for  the  simplification  of  mimici-  SSStii* 
pal  machinery  began.    New  York  made  a  start,  during  the  i^< 

*  i'ln  klmoat  every  Amerioan  city  th«  people,  at  one  time  or  another, 
liave  grown  weary  beyond  endurance  of  partiian  miarule  and  eztraTaganoe, 
and  have  given  expieMion  to  their  indignation  throogh  some  form  of  citi« 
7«iu*  movement,  and  good  men  of  clean  records  have  been  given  control  of 
city  affaire.  What  hae  been  the  result  ?  The  new  ofBcen  have  invariably 
found  a  syetem  of  government  so  honeycombed  with  the  greed  mod  idflab- 
ness  of  partisan  politics  and  their  actions  so  hampered  by  state  legislation 
that  no  pwmanent  good  could  be  done.  The  people  were  impatient  for 
results,  and  what  not  fOTthcoming,  thdr  enthusiasm  waned,  the  tidal  wave 
of  refrarm  receded,  the  politicians  quietly  planned  the  next  campanpi,  and 
the  unworthy  and  ineompetoit  resumed  control  of  the  great  pubUo  estate.". 
—  T.  C.  DnvuM.  Municipal  Biform  in  the  VniUd  SiaUa  (New  York,  1806). 
13. 


mmam 


380 


OOVSRNMINT  OF  AMIBICAN  OITUI 


I'   ,r 


last  decade  of  the  nineteoith  ooitury,  with  its  agitatira  for 
thoroughgoing  charter  changes;  and  other  cities,  like  St. 
Louis,  San  Francisco,  and  Boston,  followed.  In  smaller 
cities  the  striking  success  of  the  commission-govemment 
propaganda  was  not  long  in  showing  the  extent  to  which 
public  opinion  had  become  intolerant  of  remedies  that  did 
not  go  to  the  very  vitals  of  the  txisting  municipal  system. 
All  this  proves  that  reform  has  entered  a  new  phase,  and 
one  which  gives  promise  of  far  more  in  the  way  of  achieve- 
ment. Not  only  the  leadws  of  opinion  but  the  rank  and 
file  of  municipal  electorates  have  been  brought  to  realise 
that  reform  is  not  merely  a  question  of  putting  capable  and 
honest  men  in  office,  but  more  particularly  one  of  making 
offices  attractive  to  capable  and  honest  men.  People  are 
coming  to  see  that  they  can  make  public  office  attractive 
only  by  attaching  to  it  an  opportunity  for  real,  unr»* 
strictod,  constructive  service  to  the  community,  and  that 
they  can  do  this  only  by  renouncing,  first  of  all,  that 
slavish  allegiance  to  the  principle  of  checks  and  balances 
in  local  government,  as  well  as  to  other  political  formulaSi 
which  for  the  last  half-century  has  done  nothing  but  mis* 
guide.  The  magnetism  of  official  power  is  so  great  that 
few  men  in  any  community  can  resist  its  attraction;  but 
it  must  be  real  power  and  not  merely  the  form  of  it.  If  the 
pattern  of  city  government  becomes  such  as  to  afford  to  every 
elective  officer  that  opportunity  which  goes  with  power, 
most  of  the  difficulties  that  beset  the  paths  of  reform  organi- 
zations in  earlier  years  will  disappear.  Reform  has  gained 
in  effectiveness  as  it  has  become  impersonal,  organic,  and 
reconstructive.  Unlike  the  guerilla  warfare  of  earlier  days, 
the  charter  reform  campaigns  of  the  last  decade  have  been 
well  worth  the  efforts  expended  in  them. 

To  secure  even  temporary  improvements  in  city  adminis- 
tration is  good,  but  to  make  them  permanent  is  better. 


MUNICIPAL  RIFORMAND  RIfORMnt 


381 


Reform  whioh  upirm  to  fiiuUly  mtnt  not  content  itadf, 
therefore,  with  a  mere  reorguiiution  of  the  politieai  frame- 
work of  municipalitiet.    To  luppoM  that  *  good  charter 
and  a  ataff  of  capable  offioiab  are  the  only  things  flaeential 
to  an  efficient  and  thrifty  municipal  administration  is  to 
overlook  the  fact  that  most  of  the  city's  difficult  problem* 
are  questions  of  business  and  not  of  government.    Even 
the  best  city  charto*  provides  for  but  a  small  part  of  the 
machinery  necessary  to  solve  these  problems  correctly ;  the 
rest  of  the  apparatus,  which  includes  the  whole  interior 
mechanism  of  administration,  must  be  souj^t  within  the 
range  of  general  powers  conferred  by  the  ehartor.    It  is 
just  here,  as  has  already  bem  noticed,  that  the  shortcomings 
of  municipal  administration  have  been  most  numoous  and 
most  costly.    When  a  private  corporation  proves  successful 
in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  the  reason  is  usually  to  be  found 
not  in  the  nature  of  the  powers  conferred  upon  it  by  charter, 
or  even  in  the  capacity  or  honesty  of  the  men  who  sit  upon 
its  di'  3Ctorate,  but  rather  in  the  efficiency  of  its  internal 
organisation,  in  the  skill  with  which  it  has  adjusted  the 
various  parts  of  the  business  machine,  and  the  ability 
which  it  has  shown  in  getting  the  right  subordinate  in  the 
right  place.    If  the  city  desires  administrative  success,  it 
must  seek  it  in  the  same  way.    Reformers  must  realize, 
therefore,  that  a  final  solution  of  the  chief  municipal  prob- 
lem of  the  Ammcan  city,  that  of  getting  full  value  for 
the   city's   expenditures,  depends    even    more  upon  the 
intelligent  organization  of  business  details  than  upon  the 
mere  enunciation  of  sound  political  principles  in  city  char- 
ters.   Too  little  attention  has  been  given,  and  is  still  given, 
to  the  functioning  mechanism  of  city  government,  to  those 
thmgs  which  in  private  business  engage  the  care  and  skill 
of  the  efficiency  engineer ;  but  this  wUl  not  be  the  case  much 
longer.    The  bureaus  of  research  that  have  come  into  exist- 


OOVISNIIINT  OF  AlORIOAN  Cimi 


Tka 


enoe  during  recent  yean  are  pointing  the  way  to  tlumni^ 
gmng,  permanent  r^orm  in  thia  direction. 

All  that  has  been  written  in  the  laat  half-doien  pages  may 
be  compressed  into  the  assertion  that  municipal  reform  has 
been  slow  in  achieving  substantial  results  because  it  took  a 
surprisingly  long  time  to  get  itself  into  motion  along  the 
right  track.  But  other  factors  have  frequently  helped  to 
keep  reform  movements  from  tangible  and  permanent 
achievement.  In  earlier  days,  when  reform  had  little  more 
in  view  than  t\  ousting  of  politicians  from  municipal  office, 
the  typical  reformer  was  either  a  disgruntled  p'tlitician  who 
sou^t  to  dbow  his  way  into  public  office  on  a  platform  of 
cant,  or  a  henheaded  theorist  whose  temperament  contained 
very  few  grains  of  practical  political  sense.  In  campaigns 
directed  against  persons  the  chief  weapon  of  the  reformer 
was  penional  invective.  Absolutely  sure  that  a  successful 
crueade  against  corrupt  or  incompetent  aldermen  would 
result  in  setting  everything  right,  the  reformer  took  in  hk 
hand  the  sword  of  vituperation  and  sallied  forth  to  his  quu^ 
otic  conffict.  Loud  in  his  professions  of  non-^Murtisanship, 
he  was  in  many  cases  a  bigoted  partisan  of  his  own  class  or 
creed  or  theory.  Not  less  vehement  in  his  protestations  of 
public  spiritedness  and  denials  of  self-interest,  he  was  just  as 
often  spurred  forward  by  motives  that  appeared  unselfish 
to  no  mind  but  his  own.  Even  at  the  pres«3it  time  the  cause 
of  municipal  reform  nimibers  among  its  chief  supporters  in 
every  large  city  many  men  of  this  type.  That  they  do  not 
themselves  realize  the  incongruity  of  the  situation  is  some- 
thing that  passes  understanding.  Yet  the  fact  remains 
that  a  municipal  reform  league  or  a  taxpayers'  association 
will  choose  as  its  president  the  paid  coimsel  of  a  public- 
service  corporation,  and  still  expect  the  average  voter  to 
swallow  assurances  that  the  organization  has  no  connection 
with  the  seekers  of  special  privilege.    The  way  in  which 


If uNioiPAL  nronc  and  bdormbbs 


the  otttfUadiiic  Afn**  in  any  politiMl  ttDdarUUng  will 
ttrik«  th«  publie  imagiiwtion  b  ■omething  whioh  pwty 
■tntegitto  never  negleet  to  take  into  aooount.  In  the  coun- 
eils  of  refonn,  on  the  eratnuy,  thii  eoneideimti<m,  dei|rite 
iU  important  bearing  upon  the  ehanoea  of  eueeeii,  often 
reoeivei  no  attention  whatever. 

Municipal  reform  iiae,  moreover,  iuffered  from  the  lack  _ 
of  team  play  among  ita  frienda.  Reformers,  aa  a  lecent  2 
writer  haa  well  aaid,  are  primarily  proteetantt,  and  it  ia  the 
nature  of  proteetanta  to  be  insubordinate.*  It  is  tonpera- 
mental  inability  to  tolerate  the  ensting  situation  that  makes 
a  man  a  reformer;  and  it  is  the  same  trait  that  makes  him, 
as  a  rule,  intolerant  of  all  ideas  eioe|^  ^'•«  own.  Reformen 
can  always  agreettp(mbaaio]»ineipler  >  .^ase  are  commonly 
framed  in  such  platitttdinoua  f<»n  .  even  the  most  arrant 
political  pirate  would  not  rrfuse  Oi  '  aasent  to  them.  But, 
as  occasion  arises  for  elab<»ating  these  principles  into 
working  rules  of  administration,  it  forthwith  becomes  ap- 
parent that  eadi  reformer  has  his  own  interpretation 
of  them,  and  that  all  who  disagree  with  him  are  lacking 
in  dthor  intdligence  or  integrity  or  in  both.  Acioes  the 
history  of  neariy  every  municipid  reform  movemmt  of  the 
last  twenty  years  may  be  found  written  the  tedious  chronicle 
<'f  bickerings  due  to  persraal  jealousy,  class  bigotry,  and 
the  faOure  of  rrformers  to  realise  that  vindiotivoiess  has  no 
place  in  the  pn^ramme  of  a  political  agitation  which  seeks 
to  be  succeed. 

From  the  experiences  of  the  past  reform  organisations  Th« 
can  draw  abundant  coimsel  for  future  action.    To  secure  ^""^""^ 
achievements  of  permanent  value  they  must  seek  far  more 
than  mere  change  in  the  personnel  of  city  government. 
They  must  simplify  the  political  framework  where  necessary, 

*  Herbert  Croly,  Th«  Promi—  ef  the  S  'tiean  Lift  (New  York,  1909), 
146. 


2j«d 


n 


Admmam 


IttHiM 


384 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES 


and  make  it  afford  those  opportimities  for  constructive 
effort  which  are  the  only  enduring  attractions  of  public 
service.  Thqr  must  adjust  the  administrative  machinery 
of  the  city  to  the  work  which  it  is  called  upon  to  do,  a  mission 
which  in  any  large  city  is  a  reform  task  of  herculean  propoi^ 
tions  and  of  corresponding  value  when  performed.  If 
laborers  in  the  cause  of  civic  improvement  desire  to  see  in 
concrete  form  the  results  of  their  exertions,  they  must  also 
adjust  their  methods  to  the  conditions  of  political  warfare  in  a 
democracy ;  which  means  specifically  that  they  must  recog- 
nize the  utter  weakness  of  a  house  divided  against  itself, 
the  impotence  of  purist  professions  that  do  not  square  with 
the  facts,  and  the  unerring  certainty  with  which  extravagant 
pledges  return  to  work  injury  upon  those  who  promise,  in  the 
way  of  public  improvement,  more  than  they  can  ever  fulfil. 
Municipal  development  during  the  last  ten  or  twelve 
years  seems  to  show  that  the  lessons  of  preceding  decades 
have  not  been  altogether  unheeded.  Though  stumbling 
badly  at  times,  municipal  reform  has  persevered,  until  by 
sheer  persistence  it  has  conquered  many  of  the  obstacles 
in  its  path.  Similar  patience  and  perseverance  it  will  have 
to  exercise  for  a  long  time  to  come ;  but  the  outlook  has  never 
been  more  encouraging  than  it  is  to-day. 

RinBENCU 

The  litovtnre  of  manioipal  reform  is  already  large,  and  it  ia  iteadfiy 
crowing.  The  annual  Proceedingi  of  the  National  Municipal  League  (18 
Tola.,  18M-1912)  form  the  most  comprehensive  tingle  source  of  informatimi 
on  the  history  and  methods  of  reform  during  the  last  two  decades.  Much 
interesting  material  relating  to  the  progress  of  reform  movements  during 
the  nineties  may  be  found  in  the  filea  of  the  periodical  known  as  MuntetpoZ 
Affair;  which  appeared  during  the  years  1807-1002.  In  following  tha 
history  of  civil-service  reform  one  finds  of  great  value  the  monthly  issuas 
ot  Good  Government  (published  in  New  York)  and  the  annual  repwta  of 
the  National  Civil  Service  Reform  League  and  of  the  oivil-sarioe  oom- 
missions  in  various  states.  The  bulletins  issued  from  time  to  time  by  tha 
Amnrioaa  Civio  Association,  and  the  publioatioaa  ct  atate  muaiB^ 


m 


mm 


";V^ 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  AND  REFORMERS 


385 


Uflooiatioiu  or  of  atate  leagUM  of  munieipalitiei,  MmetimM  deal  oazefoUy 
with  speouJ  phaaes  of  monioipal  reform  and  are  of  permaaent  value.  In 
many  at  the  larger  citiea  there  are  mumoipal-reform  periodioals  which 
appear  monthly  or  otteaee,  auch  aa  City  Affairs  in  Boston,  the  Citizetu' 
BtdUtin  in  Cincinnati,  the  Municipal  League  New  in  Seattle,  the  Cine 
BuOetin  in  St.  Louis,  the  Civic  Bulletin  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  the  Munic- 
ipal BuUttin  in  Cleveland.  likewise  the  regular  bulletins  of  the  city  clubs 
in  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Chicago,  and  ebewhere  furnish  to  some  extent 
a  chronicle  of  mimicipal  happenings  in  these  cities.  Most  useful  at  all, 
because  most  thorough  in  preparation,  are  the  publications  of  such  institu- 
tions as  the  New  York  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  the  Milwaukee 
Bureau  of  Economy  and  Efficiency,  the  Legislative  Rrferenoe  Department 
of  the  Wisconsin  Free  Library  Commission,  the  Boston  Finance  Commia- 
sion,  the  Philadelphia  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  and  the  Chicago 
Bureau  of  Public  Effioimcy. 

The  chief  general  periodicals  devoting  their  attention  to  municipai 
affairs  jn  the  United  States  are  the  National  Municipal  Review,  which  is 
issued  quarterly,  the  American  City  published  monthly,  the  Municipal 
Journal  and  Engineer  Tidiioh  appears  weekly.  A  list  of  other  periodical 
publications  relating  to  Amerioan  oity  government  may  be  found  in  the 
National  Municipal  Review,  1. 40ft-410  (July,  1912). 

Books  relating  to  special  fields  of  municipal  reform,  sueh  as  eommission 
govivnment,  direct  legislation,  the  short  ballot,  the  replaoning  of  cities, 
and  so  forth,  are  numonus,  and  nearly  all  the  general  works  on  municipal 
government  contain  some  diseuasion  of  reform  movements.  Most  of  these 
have  been  mentioned  in  preceding  pages.  Two  small  monographs, 
T.  C.  Devlin's  Municipal  R^orm  in  the  United  Statee  (New  York,  1896) 
and  W.  H.  Tolman's  Municipal  Reform  Movement*  in  the  United  Statet 
(New  York,  1895),  are  more  definite  in  soope,  but  are  not  of  any  eon> 
siderable  valoe  at  tiie  ineeeDt  time. 


1  i 


3o 


■amma^- 


tMrnuimmam 


INDEX 


ABATBimm,  ot  Una,  powers  of  city 
council  in  rdmtion  to,  200. 

Abbott,  Onee,  "The  Immicnnt  and 
Muncipal  P<ditics,"  3£fi. 

Accident,  death  by,  esoeM  of  in  large 
cities,  41. 

Adams,  H.  C,  Public  DMt,  124. 

AdministratiTe  Departments,  inde- 
pendence of,  in  Ammcan  cities, 
237;  general  organisation  of,  238- 
242;  relation  of  civil  service  to, 
243-245;  methods  of  sdecting 
heads  for,  24fr-248;  methods  of 
removing  heads  of,  249-260 ;  num- 
ber of,  in  American  cities,  250-261 ; 
distrilnition  of  work  among,  262- 
263 ;  advantages  of  board  system  in 
organisation  of,  253-267;  advan- 
tages of  sini^e^ead  system  in, 
267-258;  saUries  paid  to  heads  of, 
259-260;  faulty  internal  organisa- 
tion of,  in  most  cities,  200-263. 

Age,  distribution  of  popidation  accord- 
ing to,  30-32. 

Alabama,  admission  of  non-dtisens 
to  voting  rights  in,  107;  exclusion 
of  negroes  from  suffrage  by  laws 
of,  113. 

Albany,  first  chartar  of  (1086),  2; 
early  powers  of  mayw  in,  208. 

AUermra,  method  of  choo^ng  in 
ddonial  boroui^  4 ;  positions  and 
powers  of,  before  Uie  IUnr<riution, 
181;  boards  of,  how  organised, 
188;  confirmation  of  anointment 
by,  227-229.    &«  also  aty  Counca. 

Aliens,  strength  of,  in  the  population 
of  American  cities,  32-37. 

AUen,  PhiUp,  L.,  "Ballot  Laws  and 
thrar  WtnUnci,"  143n,  152. 

Allison,  E.  P.,  and  Penrose,  B.,  Bitlory 
of  PkiUuUphut,  On,  lln,  13n,  28. 

American  Civic  Assoeiatiaa,  its  aims 
and  work,  360-361. 

Andreas,  A.  T.,  Hutory  of  CMcago.  28. 

Annapolis,  first  charter  of  (1696),  2; 
as  an  example  of  a  dose  ompiMB- 
tion.  4. 


Appointments,  municipal,  powers  of 
city  council  in  relation  to,  204; 
uldermanio  confirmation  of,  abol- 
ished in  Brooklyn  (1882),  212; 
powers  of  masror  to  make,  226- 
232;  under  the  Galveston  plan, 
297;  under  the  Des  Moines  plan, 
299.  See  also  Adminisbmtive  D^ 
partments.  Mayor,  Merit  System, 
Employees,  Municipal. 

Ap|H!opriations,  powos  d  city  council 
in  matters  of,  200-201;  contnd  ot 
mayor  over,  232-234;  provisiona 
in  commission  charters  rdating  to, 
316-316. 

Arkansas,  admission  of  non-eitisens 
to  voting  rights  in,  107 ;  provisiona 
for  direct  legislation  in  the  eon- 
stitution  of.  327n. 

Armenians,  drift  <rf,  to  large  cities  ia 
America,  33. 

Arrondissemrat,  in  Fhmee,  compared 
with  the  American  ward,  191. 

Assessors,  work  of,  in  compiling  munici- 
pal voters'  lists,  116. 

Austin,  Texas,  adoption  of  oomir'*- 
■ion  government  by,  298. 

Australia,  form  of  ballot  derived  from, 
142-143. 

BABaoM,  T.  M.,  StatuU*  nlaHna  (o  As 
City  of  Boston,  61n. 

Baker,  M.  N.,  Mwtieipal  BnginMriito 
and  Sanitation,  263. 

Baldwin,  S.  E.,  Madam  PoUHad 
/nsMiilions,  101. 

Ballotage,  aystiam  of,  in  Europe,  102. 

Ballots,  munidpal,  eariy  histonr  of, 
in  America,  142;  introduction  <rf 
Australian,  143;  growth  of,  to 
umrialdineas,  143 ;  imptovemaits 
in,  144 ;  movements  fm  the  shwten- 
iim  (rf,  146-146;  i»eferential,  147- 
148 ;  order  of  names  on,  149 ;  used 
at  deetions  of  city  eouneOlon. 
194-196. 

Baltimcne,  charter  of  (1796),  7 ;  piqin- 
latii»  of,  ia  1790,  9;  state  oo&tral 


387 


388 


INDEX 


(,:  pdiee  estaUiahed  in  (1860),  15; 
preient  state  control  of  municipal 
pcdice  in,  75,  211,  246-247;  sUte 
and  city  election*  held  on  the  nune 
day  in,  141 ;  letaina  bicameral 
■ystem,  185;  charter  of  1797  in, 
SD6;  origin  of  mayoral  veto  in, 
209;  length  of  mayor's  term  in, 
213;  qualifications  for  mayor  in, 
215;  mayor's  veto  power  in,  223; 
popular  election  of  certain  adminis- 
trative oflSciala  in,  245n. ;  Bureau 
of  Municipal  Research  in,  376. 

Bamett,  J.  D.,  "The  Operation  of  the 
Recall  in  <>econ,"  355n. 

Beale,  J.  H.,  Stl'dion  ol  CoMf  on 
Munieipal  Cor^oiration*,  63n,  81n, 
83ii,  92n,  94n,  g5n,  97n,  98n,  101, 
264. 

Beard,  C.  A.,  Diottt  of  Short  Battot 
Charten,  79,  149n,  292,  302n,  319, 
328n,  352n,  356;  "The  Ballot's 
Burden,"  152,  345n. 

Beard,  C.  A.,  and  Shults,  B.  E.,  Doeu- 
merUt  on  the  Stat^^wide  IniHoKie, 
Rtftrmdum,  and  Bteatt,  327n,  339is 
366(1. 

Bemis,  E.  W„  Local  Oowmmral  in  M« 
South  and  Soulhwtit,  27n. 

Bennet,  W.  8.,  "The  Effect  of  Immi- 
gration on  PoUtios,"  3Aii. 

Bicameral  system,  introduoed  after 
the  Revirfution,  6-7;  adopted  by 
New  York  City  in  1830,  10. 

Birmingham,  phenomenal  growth  in 
population  of,  since  1900,  26. 

Birth  rates,  in  urban  and  rural  omn- 
munities,  37-38. 

Bishop,  C.  F.,  Billon/  of  BltetUnu  in 
the  Ameriean  Colonia,  152. 

Bismarck,  on  public  opinion  as  the 
foe  of  espertneas,  306. 

Blaokmar,  F.  W.,  "The  History  of 
Suffrage  Tiegislation  in  the  United 
States,"  lOSn,  124. 

Blaekstone,  Sir  William,  transmitter 
of  Montesquieu's  doctrines,  225. 

Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment, 
in  New  York  aty,  233. 

Board  of  Trade,  in  Em^and,  74. 

Boards,  administrative,  work  et  coun- 
cil committees  supmaded  by,  240; 
advantages  of,  over  sin^  eom- 
missioners,  253-257. 

Boroughs,  in  the  American  eokmies, 
3-5;  methods  of  granting  diartera 
to,  in  En^and,  3 ;  colonial,  organi- 
■ation  of  councils  in,  180-181 ;  posi- 
tion of  r  ^ayor  in,  207-206. 


Borrowing,  munieipal.    Sot  Loans. 

Bosses,  municipal,  their  influence  and 
methods,  174-178. 

Boston,  importance  of,  as  a  colonial 
town,  4;  first  charter  of  (1822),  9; 
population  of,  in  1790  and  1822,  9: 
state  control  of  police  established 
in  (1885),  19;  nomination  by  peti- 
tion in,  23,  194;  death  rate  of,  in 
1700  and  1900,  39;  special  legis- 
lation concerning,  61 ;  state  super- 
vision of  public  utilities  in  the 
metropolitan  district  of,  66;  fre- 
quency of  proposals  to  amend  the 
new  charter  of,  67-68;  state  con- 
trol of  municipal  police  in,  75, 
246-247;  evasion  of  poll-tazea  in, 
115;  methods  of  enrolling  voters 
in,  116;  system  of  nomination  by 
petition  in,  136-138;  state  and 
municipal  Sections  hdd  on  different 
dajrs  in,  141;  abolition  of  party 
designations  on  ballots  used  in, 
144-145;  changes  made  by  char- 
ters of  1854  and  1885  in  the  govern- 
ment of,  184;  adopts  single^ham- 
bered  council,  185;  number  of 
members  in  city  council  of,  188; 
caliber  of  coundlmen  in,  188;  sal- 
aries of  oouncilmen  in,  190;  aboli- 
tion of  ward  system  in,  191;  sys- 
tem of  minwity  representation  in, 
193;  number  of  oommitteea  in 
old  council  of,  196;  cheeks  on  »^ 
propriating  powers  of  dty  oonneil 
in,  201 ;  popular  deetion  of  mayor 
provided  for  in  first  charter  ol, 
209-210;  omnparative  powaia  of 
majror  and  ci^  council  in,  212; 
length  ot  mayor's  term  in,  213; 
salaiy  of  mayor  in,  218;  eipenaea 
of  candidates  for  mayoralty  in, 
219;  checks  on  mayor's  mppdnU 
ing  power  in,  280-232;  method  o' 
making  budget  in.  233-234;  adee- 
tion  of  heada  of  departmmta  in, 
341;  aeope  of  mayor'a  appointing 
power  in,  246;  appointment  d 
SVanklin  Fund  truateea  by  JudgM 
in,  247-248;  mnoval  of  depart- 
meot  heada  by  mayor  in,  249; 
number  of  adminiatrative  depart 
mentain.251;  jwopwtion of  mani»- 
ipal  employeea  to  regiatered  votaw 
in,  266;  app<&tmenta  to  poHea 
force  under  merit  ayatam  la,  att; 
aeiQtiny  ot  municipal  pay-ro&  fagr 
atate  eivQ  aervioe  oommiaaton  in, 
380;   diaiMter  of  old  oity  ooonaa 


INDEX 


in,  807-306;    <iiiMt  of  ligiwtuTM 

for  nomination  petition!  in,  343n; 

•ttonpt  to  ToeaU  nutyor  in,  3Aln; 

number  of  betterment  orsanisationa' 

in,  364 ;  Citisena'  Municipal  League 

in,  360;    Ck>od  Government  Aaio- 

ciation    of,    3/0;    City    Club    of, 

375. 
Bocton     Finance      Commiwrion,      ita 

method*,  78;    on  the  work  of  eity 

councils,  204-20S. 
Bourne,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  "A  Delenee  of 

Direct  Lecialation,"  330n. 
Bradford,   E.   S.,  CommMmon  <7o««m- 

ment    in    Ameriean    CUiei,    140n, 

251tt,  296n,  290n,  317n,  319,  328n. 
Bradford,  O.,  Ltuon  of  Popular  Qm- 

tmment,  3S7. 
Brookin«i,  W.  D.  B.,  and  Ringwalt, 

R.  C,  Brieft  for  DebaU,  124. 
Brooklyn,    state    police    control    over 

(1867),    14;    aldermanio   confirma- 
tions abolished  in  (1882),  212. 
Brooks,  R.  C,  Corruption  m  Ameriean 

Politia  and  Lift,  152. 
Bryee,  James,  The  Ameriean  Common- 

wtaUh,  lOn,  llln;  on  the  texture 

of  urban  population,  49. 
Budget,  of  New  York  aty.  in  1820,  0; 

procedure  in  framing.  232-234. 
Buffalo,  retains  bicameral  cystem,  185 ; 

Grover    Cteveland    deeted    masror 

of,  217. 
Bureau    of    Municipal    Beaeaich,    in 

New    York    City,    work    of,    878. 

See  also  Riiladelirfiia. 
Burgomaster,    powen    of,    ennpamd 

withmasrors,  235. 
Biur,  Aaron,  obtains  water  framihise 

in  New  York  CSty,  10. 
Buah6e,  F.  A.,  Bthnie  Factor*  <m  the 

Population  of  Bocton,  62. 
Butler,  J.  A.,  "A  ffin^  or  a  Doable 

Counea,"  lS7n.  200. 

CAurasMiA,  lM»i»«ule  efaarter  asrstem 
in,  63;  illitcraey  a  bar  to  voting 
rights  in,  112;  first  attempts  to 
regulate  oaaouses  and  conventions 
in  (1866),  128. 

Canada,  methods  of  nominating  mu- 
nicipal otBoent  in,  138. 

Capen,  S.  B.,  "Shall  we  have  One  or 
Two  Legisktive  ChambMaf".  187ii, 
206. 

Caucus,  nae  of  in  eaiiier  stagss  of 
mwniciprf  devdopment,  120;  its 
abuses,  127;  use  of  in  eitgr  oooiMils, 
19S. 


Cemeteries,  municipal,  liability  of  mu- 
nicipal corporations  for  torts  of  em- 
ployees in,  96. 

Channing,  E ,  Town  and  County  C  *- 
emment  in  the  Enolith  Cotoitie*  'ff 
North  ilmertea,  27. 

Chapman,  J.  J.,  Cattsee  and  Canto- 
qfieneet,  179. 

Charteston,  population  oi,  in  1790,  9. 

Charters,  of  colonial  boroughs,  2  6; 
changes  in  after  the  Revolutitn, 
5-6;  home-rule,  provisions  lir, 
in  state  constitutions,  64 ;  granting 
of,  by  special  law,  55 ;  niles  of  the 
New  York  constitution  relating  to, 
59;  methods  of  drafting,  munici- 
pal, 76-79;  rules  concerning  in- 
terpretation of,  80-82;  absence  of 
business  provisions  in,  202-203. 

Chase,  H.  N.,  A  RepoH  to  Hie  Bxed- 
leney  the  Oatemor  of  Maemiehueelte 
,  .  .  eoneeming  .  .  .  Municipal 
Debt*  and  Re»»nue,  73n. 

Chicago,  rise  of  separate  t  iministr»' 
tive  departments  in,  13;  state 
poUce  contrd  estoblished  in  (1861), 
15;  administrative  changes  in, 
during  early  seventies,  16-17; 
strength  of  foreign-bom  dement  in 
population  of,  33;  politioal  ten- 
dencies of  foreign  born  voters  in, 
36-37;  tooteotion  against  special 
legislation  for,  in  the  constitution 
of  niintds,  59-60;  street  railway 
■tuation  in,  66-67;  representation 
cl  voters  in,  117;  state  and  city 
deetions  held  on  diffefmt  dates 
in,  141 ;  maintains  sin^»<liambaed 
emincQ,  185;  number  of  members 
in  city  council  of,  188;  aalMies  of 
eoundlmea  in,  100;  retention  at 
ward  system  in.  191;  mayor  pi*- 
sides  at  couneQ  meetingi  in,  195, 
221;  ou^rat  (rf  council  ordinances 
in,  203;  state  police  control  iwo- 
vided  for,  211 ;  comparative  powen 
of  mayor  and  eity  council  in,  212; 
length  of  mayor's  term  in,  213; 
salary  of  mayor  in,  218;  ptqralar 
election  of  certain  administrative 
officials  in.  245n;  appointment  of 
South  PaA  Commiammeia  by 
judges  in,  247;  number  <rf  adminis- 
trative departments  in,  251;  ad- 
ministaratioB  of  merit  lysleiB  in, 
277;  removals  of  employees  in, 
280;  Municipal  Voteis'  League  td, 
367-360;  aty  Qub  <d.  376; 
Board  of  PubUe  EOdsaey  ia,  378. 


390 


INDEX 


CUldi,  R.  S.,  Short  Ballot  PrmeipUt, 
146n,  lft2.  345it. 

Cincinnati,  state  control  of  municipal 
police  eatabti«hed  in  (1871),  10; 
strength  o{  foreign-bom  element  in 
population  of,  33. 

Citisens'  Union  of  New  York,  ita  at- 
tempts to  divorce  state  and  munici- 
pal i«suea,  169-160;  iU  transi- 
tory success,  lei;  its  work,  306- 
366. 

Citisenship,  as  a  qualification  for  vot- 
ing, 100-107;  methods  of  obtain- 
ing, 107-109. 

City  clubs,  work  of  the,  375-376. 

City  planning,  increased  interest  in,  24. 

City  Planning  Conference,  aims  and 
work  of,  362. 

Civic  League  of  St.  Louis,  370. 

Civil  service,  objections  to  the  p<dicy 
of  selecting  department  heads  un- 
der system  of,  243-245.  Se*  also 
Merit  System. 

Civil  service  reform,  campaign  for, 
started  by  Charles  Sumner,  17; 
progress  of,  during  period  1880- 
1896,  21. 

Civil  War,  effect  of,  on  rdations  of 
state  to  cities,  16. 

Classification  of  cities,  in  Ohio,  66-66. 

Clevdand,  development  of  adminis- 
trative departments  in,  13;  its 
difficulties  under  the  uniiForm  code, 
67 ;  maintains  sin^e-chambered 
council,  186;  Municipal  Associa- 
tion of,  370. 

Cleveland,  F.  A.,  Mimieiiml  Admini*- 
tnOion  and  Accounting,  201n,  274n, 
293,  376n;  Orowth  of  Dtmoeraey 
in  the  United  Stattt,  357. 

Clevriand,  Grover,  mayor  of  Buffalo, 
217. 

Clubs,  pditieal,  in  New  York  and 
elsewhere,  163-164. 

"Colonisation"  of  voters,  118. 

Commission,  government  by,  appoint- 
ing power  under,  229;  number 
of  departments  in  cities  under,  261 ; 
city  government  by,  294-320;  in- 
troduction of,  in  Galveston,  296- 
298;  in  Des  Moines,  299-301; 
principles  underlying,  302-304;  its 
m«rits,  304-310;  objections  to, 
311-310;  conclusions  on,  317- 
319.    See  also  Reform,  Mtmicipal. 

Committees,  of  city  council,  their 
ori^B,  190;  pow»  of  prending 
officer  in  naming,  197;  En^ish 
and  American  system  of  compared, 


107-198 ;  administrative  funetioii 
of,  in  early  stages  of  American  mi^ 
nicipal  development,  237-238. 

Commons,  John  R.,  "Labor  and 
PoUtics,"  293. 

Comptroller,  post  of,  established  and 
made  elective  in  Philadelphia  (1864). 
13. 

Confirmation.  St»  Appointments,  Al- 
dermen. 

Congress,  power  of,  in  matters  of  nat- 
uralisation, 106-107. 

Connecticut,  enacts  civil  service  re- 
form Uw  (1897),  21;  ablation  of 
property  qualification  for  voting 
in,  106;  educational  teats  required 
of  voters  in,  112. 

Constitution,  federal,  cheeks  on  stata 
legislattires  in,  63-64. 

Constitutions,  state,  limitations  upon 
the  power  of  state  legislatures  to 
deal  with  cities  in,  64-56. 

Contract,  liability  of  municipal  eoi^ 
porations  in  actions  of,  91. 

Conventions,  nomination  by,  120-127. 

Cook  County,  appointment  of  South 
Park  Commissioners,  by  judges 
of.  247. 

Corporations,  municipal,  composition 
of,  in  colonial  boroughs,  4 ;  changa 
in  idea  of,  after  1775,  6 ;  mtmicipal. 
derivative  nature  of,  63 ;  definition 
of,  80;  private  and  municipal 
oomp(U«d,  81-82;  municipal,  pow- 
ers of,  82-83 ;  liability  of,  in  actions 
of  contract,  91;  liability  of,  in 
actions  of  tort,  91-W;  liability 
of,  iat  management  of  property, 
98—99. 

(Corrupt  iMractices,  securities  against, 
at  municqwl  dections,   160-161. 

Couneila,  city,  history  of,  in  cdonial 
days,  180-181;  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, 181-182;  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  182-183;  loss  of  powers 
by,  184-185;  present  orgaiUsatioa 
of,  185;  single  and  douUe  cham- 
bers compared,  186-187;  quali- 
fications for  election  to,  188-189; 
calibw  of  members  in,  189;  pay- 
ment of  members  in,  190;  method 
of  apportioning  representation  in, 
190-191 ;  evils  of  the  ward  system 
in  connection  with,  191-194; 
methods  of  nominating  and  elect- 
ing candidates  for  election  to. 
194-195;  procedure  at  meetings 
of,  195-190;  committee  system 
of,   190-197;    American  and  Eng- 


INDEX 


891 


Hdi   omuefla   eompuad.   197-1 W; 

poww*   of,    l«8-aM;     adinintotn. 

tkm  through  eommitteM  d,  337- 

339;  power  oi,  to  raaov*  »*»'««««-- 

trmtive  offioUb,  348;    eharaeter  of, 

in  BoMon,   before  1909,  307-308; 

deeline  in  ealiber  of,  333. 
Coonoilmen,    method   of   ehooiinc   in 

colonial  bwoucfaa,  4. 
Courta,     •ppointment     of     municipal 

officer*  fay  the,  317-318. 
Crime,  mtio  of,  in  citiea  ud  urban 

dirtrietn,  4ft-M. 
Croly,  Herbert,  TK»  Promi$$  of  ameri- 

eon  JAJ9,  383fi. 
Croton    aqueduct,    opened    in    1843. 

la 

DABinnr.  C.  W.,  "The  niiteraoy  of 
the  Voting  Population  in  the  United 
Statea."  11911. 

Dallaa,  A.  J.,  Lohm  of  tht  Common- 
waltk  of  Pmtmyhimio,  6m. 

Dallaa,  Texaa,  rapid  growth  in  popula- 
tion of,  since  1911,  36;  estenaion  of 
commiaaion  ■ovemment  to,  398; 
uae  ot  recall  in,  365. 

Dallinger,  F.  W.,  NominaHont  for 
BUcHm  OtHeo,  138n,  151. 

Death  ratio  in  urban  and  rural  com- 
uiunitiea,  38-41. 

Debta.  inereaae  in  municipal,  during 
period  after  the  War,  19.    Soe  alao 


Dedaimtion  of  intention.  i8««  Nat- 
uraliaation. 

Delaware,  abolition  of  property  quali- 
fication for  voting  in,  105;  educa- 
tional teata  for  voting  in,  113. 

Ddegation  of  legialative  power,  84. 

Deming.  H.  E.,  Tit*  GowmiMiil  of 
Amtriean  Citi**,  79,  174«;  "The 
Legialature  in  City  and  State," 
306. 

Denver,  qualification  for  mayot  in, 
315;  uae  of  direct  lagialation  in, 
339.  ^^ 

Dea  lAoinea,  firat  uae  of  non-partiaan 
primary  in,  131 ;  adoption  of  com- 
miaaion idan  by,  398;  proviaiona 
for  initiative,  referendum,  and  re- 
call in  charter  <rf,  399-300;  threat- 
ened uae  of  recall  in,  355. 

Detnrit,  charter  of  (1806),  7;  educa- 
tional qualification  eiaeted  trom 
eouncOmen  in,  189;  merit  ayatem 
in,  376. 

De^.  T.  C,  Mwtieipai  Rrform  m»  Ma 
VniUd  atatto,  879».  385. 


DiUan.  J.  F..  nu  Lm»  «/  Mimieiptl 

CofforatioM.  Sn.  79.  SOn.  8I11,  85m. 
86m.  87m.  97m.  98m.  101,  199m.  304, 
37eM.398. 

Direct  lagialation.  ita  apraMi  in  Ameri- 
eancitiaa.33;  effect  of , on dutiea of 
electorate.  108 ;  definition  of.  331- 
333;  reaaona  for  the  q>read  of,  in 
America,  333-333;  development 
of,  334-337;  in  actual  operation. 
339-330;  wmditiona  aou^t  to  ba 
tvnedied  by,  331-333;  argumenta 
in  favor  of,  334-339;  argummta 
againat,  339-349;  genwal  oonchi- 
aiona  concerning,  349-350. 

Diafranchiaement  of  votera.  115. 

Diaqualifieationa  from  voting.  115. 

Dodd.  W.  F..  AotMom  and  Ammidmmt 
e/  /State  ConUitutioiu,  334m,  357. 

Dongan,  Thomaa,  govemw  of  New 
York,  granto  firat  charter  of  New 
York  City  (1686),  3. 

Drummond,  Henry,  on  the  »»»«M»»g  of 
citiea,  51. 

Durand,  R  D..  "Council  Oovem- 
ment  Mrtua  Mayor  Oovenment." 
306,336. 

Durham,  John  Oeorge  Laabton,  firat 
Earl  of,  on  popidar  raqMnaibility 
of  adminiatrative  ofiioeia,  339-340. 

Eaton,  A.  M.,  "The  Right  to  Local 
Sdf-Oovemment,"  79. 

Eaton,  D.  B.,  The  GoNrnmani  of  Mu- 
nieipaHtiM,  163m,  336,  348m.  393; 
Cunt  Stnieo  in  Ortat  Britain, 
376m. 

Education,  municipal,  beginninga  of, 
10;  relative  progreaa  of,  in  rural 
and  urban  oommunitiea.  43-44. 

Eleetiona,  time  of  holding  atate  and 
municipal,  33;  municipal,  date  of 
holding,  139-140;  idaoea  of  poll- 
ing at,  141 ;  ballota  uaed  in  conneo- 
tiim  with,  143-143;  ballot  abuaea 
at.  143-144;  deairaUlity  of  ahorter 
baUoU  for,  145-146;  uae  ttf  praf- 
erential  ballota  in,  147-148;  Mder 
ot  namea  on  ballota  at,  149-150; 
aecuritiea  againat  corruirt  iwaeticea 
at,  150-151.  Sm  alao  Ballota. 
Municipal. 

BSectorato,  municipal,  in  America  and 
and  Europe  compared,  1(B-104; 
ita  importance,  103;  in  Europe  and 
America,  103-104:  UatMy  of,  in 
America,  104-105;  eomporition  of, 
106-106;  organiaation  of,  in  eariy 
part  of  ttinetenth  centmy.   104- 


~IHMIB 


'mmsm 


HiiialiMilillii 


INDIX 


106;  Bo(  Bukk  up  laukuMtf  of 
cMmm,  lOft-107;  nMmtm  m  • 
NqairaBMnt  'or  MimiMioB  to,  111- 
118:  ilUtantMin.  113-114;  omtm- 
■hip  at  property  by,  114;  pnymmt 
of  poU-tu  by  members  of,  114- 
115;  dWrsneUaement  from.  116; 
BMthodaofeiiroUiiic,  116-119:  PK>- 
Jeeta  for  improving,  120-134. 
Heetrie  Ughtim  pUnte,  UabiUty  of 
munidpal  oorporktiont  for  tort*  of 
emplojreee  in,  06. 
Eliot,  C.  W.,  Ameriean  CamtHbuOioHi 

to  CitUiiatian,  124. 
laiie,  W.  E.,  r*«  Munieipai  Cod*  of 

Ohio,  66m  79. 
El  Paeo,  TexM,  extendon  of  eommio> 

rion  government  to,  298. 
Employeea,  munioipiJ,  linbiUty  of  mu- 
nicipal oorpontione  for  the  torte  of, 
91-90;    proUema  oonneeted  with, 
266;    number  of,   in  large  dtiee, 
266-266;      impoedbility     of     dia- 
franchiaing,  267;    organiaation  of, 
in  adminiatrative  departments,  268 ; 
political  influence  of,  269;   inferior 
caliber  of,  270-271 ;  dependence  of 
oitiea'  intereata  on,  271-272;   com- 
pared with  private  employeea,  272- 
273;    heavy  ccat  aridng  from  in- 
competence of,  274;    methoda   of 
aeleeting.    276-286;     methoda    of 
protecting  against  unjuat  removala, 
286-287;    inferior  quality  of,  288- 
200;  penaions  for,  200-202. 
England,  dow  increase  of  population 
in,  41 :   baaia  of  municiiMl  aulfrage 
in,  121-122;   methoda  of  nominat- 
ing municipal  officers  in,  138;   use 
of  AustraUan  ballot  in,  143;    pre- 
vention   of    corrupt    praeticM    at 
mimicipai  elections  in,  160;  virtual 
identification  of  state  and  munici- 
pal parties  in,   168-160;    attitude 
of  voters  toward  election  campaigns 
in,  168;   continuance  of  committee 
system  in  cities  of,  184 ;   no  salary 
given    mayors   in    cities    of,    218; 
traditions    of    official    permanence 
in  cities  of,  246;   securities  against 
wrongful  removal  of  administrative 
officials  in  cities  of,  280;  traditions 
of  reappointment  in  citie«  of,  260; 
origia  of  the  merit  system  in,  276 ; 
finune  of  city  government  in  cities 
of,  308 ;  organisations  of  municipal 
i^dab  in  cities  of,  363. 
Experts,  need  of,  in  American  oitiea, 
343. 


TumLO,  3.  A.,  Mmldpal  A*mMf 
IralisM,  S«.  10m  38,  306.  3M.  36S: 
Asoys  im  Mmieipai  Aimiitittr— 
Nen,  38.  66i».  79.  188«.  306.  306, 
368.  308;  TJU  CmUroHiatitm  «/ 
AimMlroHon  in  ATsw  York  SUtt, 
75fi. 

Itening.  C.  B.,  MseM  ilfMeltt  m 
Dind  Primarim,  163. 

ndsral  analogy,  influwies  of  tha, 
aftsr  tha  Revolution.  7 ;  infloenee  of , 
in  Baltimore  ohartar  of  1707,  308. 

Fir*  department,  immuntty  ni  mu- 
nidpd  oorporationa  for  liability  for 
torta  of  employeea  in,  08-04. 

Fire  protection,  by  volunteer  eon- 
paniea,  10. 

Elah,  C.  R..  Th*  CMI  Ssrsiss  and  Iks 
i>atroM0«,  18n,  21m,  376n,  202. 

Fiaher,  Irving,  BulUtin  oflKi  CohmmMss 
ef  On*  Hiiiidr*d  en  SaHonal  ITsaM, 
40ii. 

Ford,  H.  J.,  Th*  Aiss  and  Orowlk  af 
Amriean  Pclitie*,  18n,  170. 

Foreign  bom,  in  American  eitiea,  83- 
37;  ptditieal  exploitation  <d  votam 
among,  36-36. 

Fort  Worth,  Texaa,  extenaion  of  oon- 
miaaion  government  to,  208. 

Frimce,  Iwoad  granta  of  power  given 
to  eitiea  in,  90;  methoda  of  nomi- 
nating municipal  oCcera  in,  138; 
relation  of  aUte  to  munieipai  par- 
tieain,  158;  no aalariea given nuqrara 
in  cities  of,  218. 

Franchises,  exclusive,  oannot  be  given 
without  statutory  authority,  80; 
rules  governing,  00-100;  powers  of 
eity  ooundls  ovw  grants  oi,  301- 
202. 

Franklin  Fund,  trustees  of,  appdnted 
by  judges  of  Massiwhusetts  8ii- 
ptdme  Court.  247-248. 

French  Rev(dutk>n,  echoes  of,  in  Amsf^ 
ica,  105. 

Fuld,  L.  F.,  Pclie*  Adminitlration,  14ii. 

OAvnr,  F.  O.,  "Suffrage  Limitationa 

at  the  South,"  lUn. 
Oaltoeath,  C.  B.,   Th*  IniHaHie  and 

Btferendum,  366. 
Oalveaton,    Texaa,    eatobliabment    of 

ctHumission  government  in  (1001), 

22;   tidal  wave  in,  205;   adoption 

o(     oommiaaion    Bovemment    faiy. 

206-207. 
Oas    plants,    municipal,    liaUlity    of 

munidpsi    corporations    iat    torta 

of  emptoyeea  in,  06. 


INDIX 


803 


OVtM, 


Yort  City.  aie. 


Ownjj«._  jroyMoM  far  iirftiatiw  ia 

•oaititiitioa  o(i  834. 
Ctorawajr,  nwthods  of  ■wi^.tlng  mo- 

nieipd  oOem  in.  188;  nistioa  of 

^U  to  muBidpd  pwtiM  in.  IM; 

HlwiM  of  bOrfMBMiatwi  in.  ai8; 

PHMioM  for  muiiieipid  mployMO 

in  tiM  dtiM  uf .  890. 
OwqnMadw,    rristioa    of.    to   wvd 

VMmb;  101-1«3. 
CUllNrtooB.  H.  a,  "CoawrrktiTe  A*- 

peeto  of  tho  SMidl,"  856ii. 
Qloue«rt<Br.^  MiMoeiwMotto,    term    of 

OodUD,  B.  L..  Vti^ortHm  Tmimteim 

u/  Dmoeroey,  S22ii.  "57. 
Good  Oovomment  Aaociatioii.  of  Boo- 
too,  870. 
Ooodnow.   F.   J.,   JfimMpal  Oontw. 
mma,  80ii,  40m,  79,  800,  280,  388, 
208;      ComparatiH    Admiiutlnti** 
Law,  7»n;   Mttnieif^  Bom*  Kid*. 
70,  91m,   97m,   08m,   101;  JfimM- 
pal  ProUtm*.  79,   134.   300,  208; 
PoNtiet  and  ^.dminiilraiim,   178m, 
179;  CUi/  OoitnmmU  tM  M«  Viul»d 
8lat0$,  188m,  25Sm;     "TI»  Noom- 
rity  of  Diitiiiciiiaiiiiig  i.-^„Hnn 
from    Adminiatimtion,"    300;     on 
the  pfofoMional  olHM-iKMer,  3U; 
on  tiM  drift  away  horn  tlio  boud 
■yttem  of  adminiateotion.  257  if. 
Goodwin.  E.  H..  "Diaft  of  a  Civfl 

ServiM  Law  tot  Citiea,"  298. 
Ooukl,  E.  R.  L.,  Loeal  OowrMaMMl  m 

Pmmtyhania,  27. 

Oovomor.  in  edoniea,  grant  of  borau^ 

«bwten   by.    3;     looea   power   to 

irant  eiiartere  after  Revolution,  5. 

Grand  Junetion.  Colorado,  um  of  pnf- 

erential  baUota  in,  148 ;    aMignment 

of  funetiona  to  oommiarioneTa  in. 

308m.  ^ 

Greeks,  drift  of.  to  Amerinn  eitiea,  83. 

Greenlaw,  E.  A.,  "Office  of  Mayor  in 

tbe  United  Stotea,"  388. 
Oroam,  H.  8..  Ckieago,  28. 
OuiUott.   Jean,  L'tntigratioH  dm  «a«|. 

pa0M«  NT*  Im  •«{«•,  80m. 
Gttthiie,  Oklahcnna,  tenn  of  eamada- 
iionera  in.  802m. 

Haix.  p.  H.,  Immign^iut,  85m. 
Hamilton,   Alennder,  on  the  hafaha 

of  tegidaturee,  234-235. 
Hamilton,  J.  J.,  n*  DtlknmmtiU  af 

tht  Citu  Bom,  801m.  819. 


2J.  »»;  »M*  aOOM.  200.  215m.  280. 

Baynea,  G.  H..  "BdueatioBal  Qnaii. 
•ertione."  134m;  "The  Peopb'a 
Rvl*  in  Mnaieipal  Alfaire."  880n. 

Haaaid.    Kbwaaer.    iTMertaf   Ceffao- 

MM*,  8m. 

Health  departniaBt.lialiflity  Of  munici- 
pal eoipotattoaa  for  torto  of  ea- 
ployaas  in.  04. 
Haorinai.  on  renovala  of  officiala.  287. 
Heiync,  W.  W..  Virgmia  AoMm  oI 

liorg*,  2m. 
Hiatoiy,  of  municipal  inatitntions  in 
the  United  Btotea.  1-27;  of  dtiea, 
(1700-1825).  5-10:  of  Amer^ 
dtias  (1825-1805).  10-15;  of  Amei^ 
faan  eitiea  (1805-1890).  15-21;  of 
Ameriean  dtiea  (1800-1912).  21-27. 
HobsMi,  J.  A.,  Tkt  MtohMtm  of  Modtm 

CapiMum,  45m. 
Holeimib.   W.   P.,   P«iM«viraM<>    "or^ 

o«vJU,  27. 
Hollander.  J.  H..  Tk»  Knameiat  BiHcn 

of  BalHmon,  2S. 
Holyoke.  Mawacihuaetta.  esoeaa  of  female 

population  in,  80. 
Home-rule  chwteta,  proviaiona  for,  in 
stoto  eonatittttiona,  54;  origin  of, 
in  Miawuri,  01-02;    procedure  in 
obtaining,    02-83;     objectiMU    to 
■ystem  of,  88-00;    advantages  of 
■yatem  of,  08-73;  burden  impoaed 
tqton  legialatura.  08-00. 
Houston.  Texas,  proper^  qualification 
for  mayor  in,  215;    tattmadoa  of 
omnmission  govranmait  to.  298. 
Howe,    fyederiek    C.    n*   Ci^,   fiU 

Hope  of  Dmioeraey,  179,  SSSm. 
Howe,  W.  W.,  TIU  COv  GoNrMSMaf  a/ 

Now  OriMHM,  28. 
Hull,  R.  M..  "Preferential  Voting  and 

How  it  Works,"  149m,  162. 
Huron,  South  Dakota,  use  of  reeaU  in, 
855. 

lumon,  legidatore  of,  eetoblishea 
state  police  control  in  Chicago 
(1801),  15,  211;  enacts  dvil  ser- 
vice rdonn  law  (1806),  21;  pro- 
visions in  the  oonstttution  of,  relat- 
ing to  government  of  Chicago,  60- 
80;  Traction  Company,  extent 
of  its  operations,  80-07;  supervisioa 
of  loey  dvil  service  admiais^a- 
tionin.74;  molt  system  of  sale  ■ 
ing  certain  dty  employees  >^ 
275. 


INDIX 


nitafMsr,  la  Mm  ud  nmi  dMrieta, 
4»-M;  M  a  ter  to  vottai  riskti, 
ll»-lMi  tiofw  of,  ia  UaitMl 
SUt«,llQ. 

iBunigratioB.  horn  rural  dMrielt  to 
eitiM,  31 ;  fonigB,  S>-37. 

Indiana,    aaaet*   dvfl   MrriM 
law  (IBM),  21 ;   admiMtoa  o( 
eitiiWM  to  votiag  ri^ta  ia,  107. 

ladianapotia.  City  Chib  of.  875. 

Initiativa  and  rafarMxhia.  8m  IMnet 
LaHdatioB. 

Iowa,  flnl  UM  of  na»^artiMB  pri- 
mary ia,  181 1  Imiilatwra  of,  anthor- 
iiM  adoption  of  nnminiiinn  plaa, 
398. 

Itaiiaaa,  wttleaMnt  of,  is  AoMriean 
eiti«a,8S. 

Irina,  W.  M..  MaMm  PaUHm.  179. 

Jaouon,    AKMonr,    daoMMratie    tan- 

dradM  during  prciidMiey  of,  11-13 : 

rte  of  ■poiia  lyitMn  d<»iai  prai- 

deney  of,  17 ;  attaeki  wnngriaiinntl 

eaueuf,  138. 
Jdf,   E.  A..   Tk$  Corrupt  mtd  /Ifa«al 

PnuHet  PrtMHHm  AeU  af  tS8S 

and  18U,  183. 
Jeney  Ci^,  kngtU  of  majror't  Una  in, 

214. 
Johnmi,  L.  J.,  "Dirart  Tmlriation," 

33«a. 
Jottw,  C.  L.,  JhadMigr  on  Pwtim  aarf 

BUeUoiu,  ISln,  139n,  183. 
Jonea,  D.  A.,  r*«  lfigU§mte*  ^  Mtmiei- 

pal  CorptirpHon*,  9a«,  101. 
Joaaa,  T.  J.,  Tha  SoeUkgy  of  a  Stm 

York  dtp  aUiek,  83. 

K«iw*a.  admiwiffln  of  noa-dtiMna  to 

voting  rights  in,  107. 
KanMM  City,  dvil  ■erviee  qntam  in, 

342a,  276. 
Kingdey,  CharlM,  "Qiaat  Citiaa,  and 

their  Influence  for  Oood  and  Evil," 

46n. 

LaAQUB   of   Araeriean    Munidpalitiea, 

ainu  and  work  d,  SOS. 
Leoicy,    W.    E.    H.,    Dtmoeraep    and 

lAhertp.  124,  350. 
Legialative  control  of  city  affairs,  71- 

74. 
Lugialature,    sMumea   eharter.granting 

funotiont  after  the  Revolution,  8; 

increased   interference   of,   in   city 

sfifaira,   14 ;    state  cncr.ks    on    the 

supremacy   of,    ia     dsaUag     with 

dtieo,  63-88. 


89. 
UahOity    of    maaieipal    eotpetatioM, 

8m  Contiasta.  Propstty,  Torts. 
Ughtiiw,  sf^.  flnt  sstshiishmsBt  d, 

10. 
limitatioab,    eonstitutioaal,    on   Mats 

Isgislaturs  ia  relation  to  oUy  aSairs, 

88  9. 
Uthttaniaas.  drift  of,  to  eitiss.  8S. 
*ifiiiT*i  muaieipal,  spsoial  elsetiaaa  to 

aathotise,    100;     powata   of    eitjr 

eooneils  ia  tbs  awttar  of,  901. 
Lobiagier.  C.  a,  Tk$  FmpVt  Urn,  880. 
Local  OovsfBnsnt  Board,  ia  t^-"^, 

74. 
Loeal  optkm,  freqosnt  uss  of  raforea- 

dum   ia,   338-898;    uss  of  diroel 

lagisUtion  in,  848. 
London,  death  rata  in.  dnri^  Hiddh 

Aam,  88;  rdatioa  of  stata  to  ■»• 

tttkvA  parties  ia.  18»-180. 
Los  Aaaaiaa,   Caltforaia,   phuiowiaasl 

srowth  in  populatina  of,  aineo  1900^ 

30;  msritayatania.370;adap(ioa 

of  raeaU  fagr.  880;    Oty  Chib  of. 

878. 
Loidsiana,  aaaets  civil  ssrvieo  fafona 

law  (1S90),  31 ;  anharion  of  i 

from  anlfiaga  in.  118. 
LowcB.  A.  L..  Tkt  Omammmtt  *f  Mh^ 

Iswt.  183,  180a;  on  qualifleattos 

of  dspartmant  heads,  3^ 

Muntp$,W. 
LowsD.  F.  C,  "The  Amsricaa  Boss," 

178a. 
Lowell.  Masasfihiiaatta,  aaeeas  of  femalo 

popidation  in,  SO. 
LudingtoB.  Arthur,  "Ballot  Lawa  in 

the  United  Stetes."  148m,  183. 
Luetsdier,  Q.  D..  Jbrfy  i>a<iNaoi  Ifa- 

e>»a«n>  ia  Me  VaOaif  SMm,  130a, 

181. 
Lynn.    MsaaachiiawHa,    aaalgnmwit   of 

functions  to  cominiaalnnara  in,  SQOa. 

MoCau„  S.  W.,  "Representative  sa 

against  Direct  Oovmunent,"  SSOa. 
liloCniy,  O.  W.,  1V«alM«  »a  UU  Ammi- 

eon  Law  of  BtatiliwM,  119a,  183. 
Macgregor,  F.  H.,  dip  Ooacrameaf  ty 

CoimatuMm,  819. 
McMillan,  D.  C,  TU  glmt6m  Franekim 

in  Um  VniUd  8UIm.  194. 
McQuiUin.  Eugene,  Tkt  Vam  af  Mw- 

mctpal  Curpon^umt,  64a,  79,  8wl. 

84a.    88a,    80m,    87a.    101. 

904. 


INDIZ 


of. 

in. 


to 

sitjr 

ad. 


JraiMiMry,  1M»,  iTt. 


ifMlMjMi 

Mm  101. 


tea 


I  in 
tfa- 


Jwt* 


Mate-,  iifaiwUniMil  t«ta  for  nBiMi 
Uoo  ia  MMlitatfcm  o*.  Wn.  ^^ 
■Mm,  IM.  ^^  ^^ 

MfCai».7V:  "MuaMpiaPUiti- 

•?•  F»rtlM,"  l«6ii.  leiT^  ^^ 
■■•»"»"•••.   N««   Wammhln.   tntm 

aflMiHa*po|mUtloaiQ.ao. 
M»h^  miBieiiMa.  IMiUty  of  muiiU. 

IMI  soipantioiw  for  torts  of  «&. 

pl09PMsia.9S. 
M«Jjp»tM.  «*««,«., 

•toto  poUm  eontrai  ia  Bahimon 

tw>  of.  347;  wriy  OM  etaiSuy 
nfanoihuB  in.  SM. 


4,   Itli 


dMBcatea  poMe,  (1886).  M;  .omi. 
•ml   MfTiM   nform   law    (1884). 

Si  !KSJ"*»***°"  *»«**•  «* 

oi.   rMMetioM  cm  muoMpal  boi>> 
wwtaf   PBwe.   fa.   88:    mpifc*. 

67;  faflun  to  aaTorM  rnlM  niatfaa 
to  muai«ipd  flaaaea  fa.  78:^^ 

S"*~'jlir'    <^  -'Wo.  taT 
74;    BMtropoUtaa  nnmialoiiuin  fa 
76 ;    aboUtioa  of  pmwrty  qiMlifl: 
«*y—  tor  Totfac  fa,  106;  ^Mdal 

SSffL**  "^  *'*<tfaM  ia.  108; 
rawMooe  raquiiauMBto  for  Totfaa 
fa  oMm  of.  Ill;  yrMH  lOqnM 
to  Had  aad  writo  fa  ttOm  of.  112; 
^"owro  laquifMl  to  bo  aMeMod  for 
P^^*"-  to.  IM;  >«firt»tioa  of 
jw*-  ia.  118:  aaaiw  of  voten 
kq>t  oa  raOa  fa.  iig;  gy^^^  ^ 
Jofat  ptfaiMiw  fa.  130;  rimpUfiea- 
«oa  of  ballot  fa.  144:  a»  ofjSrt 
Pri^inr    fa.     W4;      appotofaSnt 

^S!r^<  347:  appofatmeat 
of  fVaaUfa  Fund  tnutoM  by  m- 
Pwmo  oonrt  of.  347-348;  merit 
■y«*«a  of  Hiaetfac  moaidiMl  offl- 
«ft*  ia,  37S,  278-279;  adrnfaHtra- 
^  of  m«it  vrtam  fa,  278-380; 

provided  for  fa  eoaititatioB  of,  824. 


306 


.  OMa  iMKua,  ■!■■  aad 
Mattlww^  NallHn,  nw  C«to  A 

"""hw  of,  fa  ««»~ith|  bomwi^ 

•H«  «fca  lUwIaSSre^ 

ptr  by  ohartar  of  1880,  10;  poMi. 

!y_  ?'**fa«  o<.  iiru^Tfa 

^pofatfag  poww  of,  14;   poiMoB 

of.  fa  ooleBial  tntminho_  Ml;  w» 
ridoa  at  eoaaea  naetfaM  fa'  Ckl. 
«•«>  -irf  Piwhtaw,  IM;  oOm 
of.  fa  Amorieaa  oHiM,  307-880; 
yrty  pMwta  of,  308:faaraMro( 
P^««  «*.  dorfag  BiaotoMtk  oHf 
wr.  300;    faerMMo  fa  powwi  of. 

••-««»•.  318-214;  torn  of.  fa 
vanxM  oMm,  313-314;  qaaUOw. 
«0B.  far  otfo.  of,  31d^l8roa« 
"*.  "o   a   itapiifaa^toBa.  9ia-9lTt 

-janr  of,  ii5:s?rdj;s**i 

Of.  231-336:  »ato  pmnr  of,  338- 
HS'  _*»^»°to«tog  powwa  of,  330- 
an;  powtr  to  touna  badaM,  383- 
3M;  appdatmoat  of  admfaittra- 
thre  boards  by,  340;  poww  of,  to 
f'lB*!^  dspartOMBt  hsads,  34»- 
f«|JgPototoa«t^of  drfl  ssrvio. 
Mthortttss  bjr.  377-378;  traditfam 
■**a^  to  tho  oOes  of.  817;  at- 
UaBPtsd  laeaU  of,  fa  Boston.  XKia. 

tfi^snsa,  36a. 
MsmpUs,BMritqratsaifa,370:  mhUmI 
•■veriaients  with  -rrmmtMion  gov- 
"WB«rt  fa,  398;  pMosataas  of 
■vwtons  nqoired  for  faHtetivo 
pstHioasfa.S38a.  "«»"'• 

Msrit  qrstsm,  ori|^  of,  276;  aims  of, 
278;  administiatioB  of,  fa  differ' 
jmt  dtie^  277-279;  rtsulta  of,  270- 
280;  objeetioos  to.  280-288;  pra- 
vaatioa  of  unfair  rtlsiiilmsls  uBdM* 
380-287;  benefiefal seUeynneateof ! 
287-28B;  inadequate  provisioB  for, 
to  emnmiMioa  chwters.  SOOn. 
8m  also  Appofatawats,  Removals. 
Merriam,  C.  E.,  Primary  tOtetiant. 
12811,  13Sim8L      ^^  • 

Mourtit,  FmiI,  Aw  atgbmtntiaM  w 
Mnmdami  rEwop*  trnlmponiM, 

M«yw,  B.  C,  Nomimatmo  aytlama,  181. 


INDEX 


tial,  l»;  pravWoM  in  th«  mw 
eoattittttlon  o(,  •oiiMniing  ipMial 
lagMAtion  for  tMm,  00;  ttm- 
kald«n'  eUrtw  ■jniMB  in,  6S; 
•Um  votMi  ia,  107;  iwidaBM  t»- 
quifMiMt  for  voting  in  eitiM  ol, 
Ul. 

MiUtia,  poww  ol  Buiror  to  caB  «U. 
3S4. 

lUk  tavMtioa.  ntetioa  ol,  to  ttitaa 
dMUhntM.40k 

Mill.  JtAn  8t«Mrt,  on  tiw  "■»■>•  ol 
prop«rty,"  48;  JltyrtMiitaMM  Ow- 
triMMNl,  134.  aA7. 

MlllOT,  a.  A.,  "Tha  Homa  Ruto  Um  for 
MidiiiMi  CitiM."  79. 

MOwMikM,  atr  Chib  of,  S7S. 

Mining  inditftry  ••  •  oounterMting 
{i.fri«i»««  upon  tiM  urban  inlux, 
84. 

Miwwiaoto.  hoBM-nite  ehartar  vstam 
in,  03. 

Mirrinr'iT'.  tidaiion  ol  nevooa  from 
■aflraga  ta>,  HS. 

Minouri,  idmiMton  of  noa-eitia«M  to 
Toting  righto  in,  107;  appointaMBt 
of  St.  Louis  poUm  eoouniMionwa 
hy  governor  of.  347;  ralation  of 
initiative  to  homa-rula  dwrtar  qra- 
tain  in,  320;  prov'tona  for  diroet 
legialation  in  conitf  iti(»  of,  S37n. 

Montana,  proviatona  tor  diraet  lagia- 
lation  in  oonatitotion  of,  S27ii. 

Miwteaquieu,  infhianea  of,  335;  on 
tha  eheeka  to  power,  S17. 

Mwal  afauiduda,  of  urban  and  niral 

Mortality  at  varioua  ages  in  ettiea, 

31-33;     among   infanto    in    large 

eitiea,  3(M0. 
Moam,  Bernard,  Th*  SttaMMmaai  «f 

Ciiv  OMtmmmU  m  Stm  Framiieo, 

38. 
Municipal  Voteia'  Laagos,  of  Chieago, 

S87-30B. 
Munro,   W.   B.,    Tha  OMtmmtmt  of 

Ewopim  Citim,  lOSn.  ISBn,  180(1, 

107n,  337»:  Tha  iniHatiM,  Btftrm- 

Atm  and  BaeaO,  SSla,  830n,  SSSn, 

3S6. 
Myera,  Q..  Tk»  Hiitoni  d  TammuKit 

HaU.  IftSa,  170. 

Nauoiui.  Civil  Serviee  Reform  League, 

rims  and  work  of.  393. 
National  Municipal  League,  isMies  a 

Municipal   Program    (1800),    31ti; 

tta  aims  and  work,  360-301. 


SMItlMni    SiliM,    11>- 


NatwaUwIiea,  of  L 

otaMssia.S7:  nilssolhtwi 
to,   100-100; 
in.  lOO-lll. 

Nebraska,  admiarioa  ol  ( 
voting  righto  in,  107. 

Negroes,  adsustion  ol, 
107;    matkodi  ol 
anftaga   in 
114. 

New   Bedford, . 

of  female  population  la,  M. 

Now  England,  abasaas  of  eh 

borottglM  in,  8;   ona^jraav  majronl 
term  oommiistonar  in  etties  of.  MS. 

Naw  HampaUia,  paraentaga  ol 
araay  ia  eitiea  ol,  110; 
ttoaal   pcovirion   eoaoan   _ 
ol  paupla  to  instmet  Mgraas  ki, 
034. 

Naw  Bavan,  merit  a>s>ma  in,  370. 

New  Jsraay,  abolition  ol  ptopartf 
quaUSeatfaa  for  voting  in,  10ft. 

Naw  OrleMM.  a«i  quaUAeatloa  ol 
mayor  in,  31ft. 

Now  York  CSty,  population  ol.  ia  1700, 
0;  police  vrtam  of,  in  ISSft,  0-10; 
diarter  of  (183ft),  10;  ehartv  of 
(1849).  13:  proviaion  lor  a<faniBia> 
trative  oflMals  in  ehartar  ol  (1880), 
13;  dianga  in  mathoda  ol  sslsoting 
administta^  ofkan  made  ia 
18B7,  14;  atato  poliea  control  as* 
tabtkOied  in  (ISftT),  14;  govai*. 
meat  ol,  in  years  foDowing  tha 
War,  1ft;  provisions  against  pa*> 
ronage  in  charter  d  (1878),  17; 
pditical  tendeneiea  of  foreign-bora 
votara  in,  30-87;  «e«iai  legia- 
latton  ralating  to,  61;  naturalisa. 
tkm  ot  aUena  bgr  tha  coorta  of,  110; 
regiatratton  ol  voteia  in,  117;  woik 
d  Citiaana'  Union  in.  IftO-lOO; 
party  organisation  in.  100-108; 
sdoptiHi  d  aingla-ehambarad  ooua- 
CO  to,  18ft;  number  ol  members  to 
dty  eouncfl  ol,  188;  aalarfas  ol 
aldermen  in,  100;  woric  <rf  Board, 
of  Eatimato  and  Amortkmment  in, 
300;  limitatkma  on  m>propitoting 
powers  of  d^  council  in.  301;  early 
powera  of  mayor  to,  308;  popular 
eieotion  ol  mayor  totrodiiced  to 
1884,  310;  atato  police  provided 
for,  311;  comparativa  intoeaeo 
of  mayor  aad  dty  couneil  in,  318: 
mayor'a  term  lengthened  to  four 
years  in,  313 ;  salary  of  mayor  to, 
318;  m>patoting  powers  of  mayor  in^ 


INDIZ 


897 


in.  tttM:  muft  of  Miw't 

lm,M0t 


«i,  MOi  mmhm  •( 

j|ii.MO-«lt 
>  of  <M«  MplovMt  te.  SM: 
MM  of  oarial  tewMwiHy  te,  tr4> 
poIMmI  MMMMMi  ia.  MS:  «ttf. 
InMoa  of  pi«^.Nllt  iqraMlMrTlM 

•M«WMte.lW;  OMMH'VaiMI 

iB.  a«ft-M8t  CHjr  Chib  «f,  ITS. 
Nw  York,  tutiniiii  of,  -"I'-miiTi 
■Mo  poHoo  boMd  for  Now  York 
a^  (lUT).  M.  olinWikii  otetL 
poHoo  ooMnl  (ltn».  Wt  owMto 
•Wl  oirrloo  nfoia  low  (MM). 
»:  Bhortloottai  of  oMoo  te.  a»- 
W;  ipooMtkiMotioa  for  oMm  te. 

■owtag  poworo  tei  M 
tiMoowidorioMte.74: 
of  loool  ohrfl  owioo  piiioiiio  te. 
74:  obolMott  of,  praportr  VmU*. 
ootiMo  for  vottec  te.  106;  ipodol 
provUoe  for  eoBTielod  Totno  te, 
11«;  piriwntogo  of  O^tnv  te 
oMoo  of.  n»:  NfidatioB  of  portr 
ooMooM  te.  1»:  piovidoo  otato 
poUeo  for  Wow  Yoijk  Cily.  «1; 

oOotalo  te.  3lfi,  377-478:  appotet- 
iMBt  of  oMI  owrioo  nniiiMJHiiiiiiio 

Si  "^  ."(s.  •»  ■"««*  «7-a78: 
MmMpid  OorwiimoBt  Aooootetkn 
of.  S61. 

WmwteotioB  bgr  potitioB.  te  Bootoo.  SS. 

WnmteortoM,  nimidpol.  mOy  ota«o 
te  hiotofT  of.  US-US:  oiMMM  te. 
U7-U8:  br  portjr  prteurfao,  US- 
MO:  ty  opon  pfteMrioo,  Ml-189; 
pbiootteao  to  tho  primoijr.  MS-MS; 
bgr  potttkMi.  M7-M8:  of  d^  oooa- 
eiBan,104. 

Noifolk.  Snt  eharttr  of  (17as>,  S;  ao 
M  moq^  of  •  dooo  oorporMten,  4. 

North  Carolteo,  ^whiiiwi  of 

fkonMdbMote.lM. 

OraHMwina,  B.  P„  "Tho 

of  Homo  Bnlo  te  CHIm,"  79; 
Tk»  Btfirmdmm,  InOtaUm,  md  «»■ 
mB  «»  Awmim.  Sain.  SaSii.  S98», 
aSlmS48n.SS5H.S86. 

<Miio,  omitim  otato  eoatal  of  Cte- 
eteMti  poUeo  (18SS),  M;  ptovWoao 
te  the  eonotitatioB  of,  rdolini  to 
oitjr  ohartan,  SS; 


^ te.    «S{     .„ 

■M  gjnm  br  loi^rfotoii  of,  to 
•l^oirin,  SS;  Mm  Mtaa  of 
Mhottas  wrteto  oMy  o&tek  to. 
»7S;  llaaWpol  Aooooteliaa  of.  ito 
SSI. 


*».  Ms  ^. 
tetioatetiM 


Mm  to  bo 

of.  SS: 


lor  (UmoI  .  _ 

of,  SS7«. 

of,  SS:  fwiaH 

'  te  tko 

bo 


S7-SS: 

bOitr  of  MvaMpal  oorporatioao 
ior  BBB  MfntOMiMt  of,  0S-SS: 
Powno  of  oitjr  oouaoflo  te  oaaot- 
am  Id.  iss-soo:  BuMpiioitr  of. 
te  biwr  oMtoL  SOI:  vote  of ,  fay 
I;  ..auiktes  of,  bgr 

'Of 


_  of    BOB  limOMO    to 

vottef  rii^  te,   107:    ootabUob- 
toort  of  dlioot  toglolaHoB  te,  S37i«. 

Ootooaorrid.  M.,  "Tho  Bioa  aad  FM 
of  tto  Noaateattet  Ommoo^'*  laSa; 

IXr*,  17Sa.  ^^ 

OwoB,  R.  L..  TIW  Co*  V  A$  PttpVt 
£aw,SSSw 

PABDOir,  BMjror'a  powor  of,  fa  poUeo 

FmIo,  IVaaoo,  ^otelbuUoa  of  popnte- 
«foa  te.  aooordtec  to  asK  SlM. 

PBrtto.  dopartBMBt  of.  UafaOitjr  of  tha 
dtjr  te  tha  tarto  of  onptoyooa  te 
tha.  04.  »~w—  — 

FUtioa,  oOoet  of  idoBtitr  of  otato  aad 
aaoBioteal  olootioB  daya  oa.  189- 
140;  nood  of  nuaia^Ml,  18S-1S4; 
niatioB  of  Biaafaipal  to  otato,  104- 
18S;  Bothodo  of  dhmeteg  otato 
aad  araaieteal,  ISS-lSl;  ofaotadeo 
te  tho  war  of  atriotly  aunie^ 
lSS-188;  eapcrieBeo  of  Now  York 
Citir  te  tha  natter  of  tedapeBdont. 
150-161;  onaaiaatioa  of.  te  tern 
oitioo,  163-164:  te  FUkdolidiia. 
M^ISS;    te  Bootoo.  166-166;    te 

166-167;  thtfr  work.  167-1«: 
laiotei  of  ftiadi  te.  160-171 ;  aa- 
po<4ituiM  of.  171-173;   ooBtrat  of 


308 


INDEX 


I 


!ii 


hi 


patronate  by  leadera  of,  171-174; 
place  of  Ui«  boM  in  the  organiiation 
of,  174-178.  See  alw  Refana, 
Municipal. 

Patronage,  nature  of,  in  large  citiea, 
172-173;  iU  vicioua  reaulta,  173- 
174;  ita  uae  by  municipal  bc^es, 
174-178;  interest  of  councilmen 
in,  205.    See  alio  Merit  System. 

Pennsylvania,  special  legislation  for 
eitiea  in,  01 ;  residence  require- 
ments for  voting  in.  111 ;  voters 
required  to  have  paid  state  taxes  in, 
114;  names  of  voters  kept  on  lists 
from  year  to  year  in,  118;  merit 
system  of  selecting  certain  city 
officials  in,  275-277 ;  right  of  people 
to  instruct  their  representatives 
provided  for  in  constitution  of, 
324. 

Pensions,  for  municipal  employees, 
290-292. 

Petition,  the  system  of  nomination  by, 
136-138 ;  nomination  of  councilmen 
by,  in  Boston,  194. 

Phelps,  P.  M.,  Sdeeted  ArtieUt  on  the 
Initiative  and  Referendum,  356. 

Philadelphia,  first  charter  of  (1691),  2 ; 
importance  of,  in  later  colonial 
era,  4;  new  charter  of  (1789),  5-6; 
special  legislation  relating  to,  6; 
population  of,  in  1790,  9;  changes 
made  by  charter  of  1854  in,  13; 
foreign-bom  element  in  the  popu- 
lation of,  35;  registration  of  voters 
in,  117;  framework  of  party  or- 
ganisation in,  164-166;  retention 
of  bicameral  council  in,  185 ;  Select 
Council  of,  188;  non-payment  of 
councilmen  in,  190;  retention  of 
ward  system  in,  191 ;  adopted  popu- 
lar election  of  mayor  in  1826,  210 ; 
rdative  powers  of  mayor  and 
municipal  legislature  in,  212 ;  lengtii 
of  mayor's  term  of  office  in,  213; 
qualifications  of  candidates  for 
mayoralty  in,  216;  mayor's  salary 
in,  218;  executive  veto  in,  223; 
popular  dection  of  certain  adminis- 
trative officials  in.  245n;  appoint- 
ment of  school  authorities  by  judges 
in,  247;  nimiber  of  administrative 
departments  in,  251 ;  appointment 
of  civil  service  commissioners  in, 
277 ;  unwiddy  nature  of  city  coun- 
cil in,  314;  experience  with  refer- 
enda on  munidpal  borrowing  in, 
348n;  City  Club  of,  376;  Bureau 
of  Munidpal  Research  in,  376. 


Phillips,  J.  B.,  Edueatioital  Quaii/leaHtme 
of  Voteri,  114n.  124. 

Phydque,  effects  of  urban  concentra- 
tion on  racial,  41-43. 

Pittsburg,  administrative  changes  in, 
during  early  seventies,  16;  retains 
bicameral  council,  185. 

Poles,  influx  of,  to  Ir  ,•«<?  American 
cities,  33. 

Police,  organisati  u  of,  in  Kcw  Vo'V: 
City,  during  nt\Ur  part  ot  niao- 
teenth  centur/.  9-  !0;  state  ci  j- 
trol  of,  estabi  3hp<i  in  New  Yo  k, 
Baltimore,  St.  !  ''uU,  and  Chicr.go, 
15;  abolished  in  New  Vcrl'  and 
Chicago,  19 ;  liability  of  the  city  for 
the  torts  of,  94-95 ;  intrusted  with 
work  of  listing  voters  in  Boston,  1 16. 

Pond,  O.  L.,  Afunietpof  Control  of 
Public  l/Mit.M,  89n,  lOOn,  101, 
201n. 

Pontiac,  Michigan,  use  of  direct  legis- 
lation procedure  in,  329n. 

Poor  relief,  liability  of  municipal  cor- 
porations for  the  torts  of  adminia- 
trative  officials  in  the  department 
of.  94. 

Population,  of  colonial  boroughs,  4; 
of  American  cities  in  1790,  9;  in- 
crease of  dties  in,  during  period 
1865-1890,  18 ;  increase  of,  in  cities 
since  1890.  25-26;  causes  of  rapid 
growth  of,  in  urban  centres,  26-27; 
of  tjrpical  urban  and  rural  units 
compared,  29;  distribution  of. 
according  to  sex,  29-30;  distribu- 
tion of,  according  to  age,  30-32; 
distribution  of,  according  to  race 
and  nativity.  32-37 ;  normal  growth 
of,  in  urban  and  rural  areas,  37-41 ; 
phydeal  devdopment  of,  in  town 
and  country,  41-43;  ratio  of  illit- 
erates in  urban  and  rural  dements 
ot,  43-44;  moral  standards  of 
different  dements  in  the,  46-46; 
ownership  of  property  by  dty  and 
country,  47-48. 

Populists,  eariy  advocacy  of  the  recall 
by,  360. 

Portland.  Oregon,  use  of  direct  legis- 
lation methods  in,  3?y ;  Taxpayen' 
League  of,  its  part  at  referMida, 
337n. 

Pratt.  E.  E..  Induitrial  CotMsi  of  Ms 
CongeMm  of  Population  in  ffem 
York  City,  52. 

Prefect,  office  of,  in  France,  74;  powers 
oi,  in  Paris,  compared  with  powen 
of  American  mayor,  235. 


INDEX 


399 


Preferential  votiiig,  147-149.  Sm  alao 
Ballot. 

Prjmaiy.  apread  of  the  'non-partiaan, 
in  Amoican  dtiea,  23;  different 
typea  of,  now  in  uae,  129-132;  ob- 
jeetiona  to  the,  aa  a  method  of 
nominating  municipal  officers,  133- 
130.    Ste  alao  Nomination. 

Progreaaivea,  in  London,  16S-I69. 

Property,  ownership  of,  by  urbui  and 
rural  votras,  47-48;  municipal 
liabilitiea  connected  with  the  hold- 
ing of,  98-99;  ownership  of,  as  a 
qualification  for  voting,  106;  by 
municipal  voters  in  Rhode  Uand, 
114. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island,  plaee  of 
the  mayor  with  reference  to  the 
city  council  in,  195. 

Prussia,  broad  granta  of  power  given 
to  dtiea  in,  90. 

Vryor,  J.  L.,  "Should  Munidpal  Legis- 
lators receive  a  Salary  T",  190n, 
206. 

Public  service  eorporations,  relation 
of  the  dty  to,  99-100;  contribu- 
tions made  by,  to  party  funda,  170. 
See  alao  Franchises. 

Public  utilitiea,  relation  of  the  council 
to,  201-202. 

Public  works,  departmenta  of,  faulty 
organisation  of,  in  many  dtiea, 
280-261. 

QuAuncATioNB,  of  ooundlmen  and 
aldermen,  188-190;  of  candidates 
for  the  mayoralty,  216;  of  depart- 
ment heads,  243-244.  See  also 
Merit  System. 

Quincy,  Josiah,  aecond  mayor  (rf  Boa- 
ton,  210;  MunieiptU  Hutory  of 
Boibtn,  3n,  28. 

Rawlm,  W.  a.,  CentraHMino  Tendeneiei 
in  the  AdminittraHon  of  Indiana, 
76n. 

Tlecall,  spread  of  the,  in  dtiea,  23 ;  in 
Des  Moines,  300;  origin  of,  360; 
machinery  of  the,  351-362;  argu- 
ments for  the  use  of,  362-354 ;  argu- 
ments against  the  use  of,  355-366. 

Recorder,  office  of,  in  colonial  boroughs, 
4. 

Reform,  munidpal,  progreas  of,  before 
1890,  20;  iMogreaa  of,  since  1890, 
26;  definition  of,  358;  types  of 
organisationa  working  for,  360- 
377;  difficulties  encountered  by 
movenMBta  for,  877-483. 


Reformers,  in  London,  168-159. 
Registration,    of    votws,    in    varioaa 
dties,  116-119. 

Removals,  of  dty  officials,  aldennanio 
concurrence  in,  229 ;  of  department 
heada,  248-250.  See  alao  Merit 
System. 

Residence,  •■  m  requirement  for  nat- 
uralisation, 108;  aa  a  require 
ment  for  the  aulfrage,  111-112. 

Revolution,  effecta  of  the,  on  dty 
charters,  5-6;  on  the  organisation 
and  functions  of  dty  coundla, 
181-182;  on  the  office  of  mayor, 
208.    See  also  Federal  Analogy. 

Rhode  Island,  property  qualification 
for  voting  at  city  council  elections 
in,  114. 

RiduDond,  Virginia,  first  charter  ol 
(1742),  2. 

Ridgley,  David,  Annate  of  Annapolie, 
2n. 

Ringwalt,  R.  C,  Briefe  on  Public 
QueeHone,  124. 

Robbins,  E.  C,  Selected  Artielee  on 
Commiteion  Gotemment,  319. 

Robinson,  C.  M.,  The  Call  of  the  City, 
32». 

Rogers,  R.  W.,  "Munidpal  Corpora- 
tions," 3n,  28. 

Roosevdt,  Theodore,  ATete  York,  28; 
PraeHctU  PoliHee,  179 ;  unsuccessful 
candidate  for  mayoralty  ot  New 
York  City,  217. 

Rose,  J.  C,  "Negro  Suffrage,"  11 '  ». 

Rotation  in  office,  prindple  i .,  ita 
working  in  dty  administration,  12. 

Bo\fe,  L.  S.,  Probleme  «f  Ciiy  Ootem- 
I,  101. 


Salabibb,  of  aldermen  and  eoundllora, 
190;  of  dqNwtmert  heads,  259- 
260. 

San  Bernardino,  Califcnnia,  use  of  the 
recall  in,  365n. 

San  F^wndsco,  state  and  munidpal 
elections  held  on  different  daya  in, 
141  ;  maintains  single  chamber 
system,  185;  number  of  members 
in  city  council  of,  188;  abolition 
of  ward  system  in,  191;  qualifica- 
tions for  the  office  of  mayor  in, 
215;  executive  veto  in,  223 ;  scope 
of  mayor's  appointing  power  in, 
246 ;  rise  of  mwit  system  in,  276. 

Scandinavians,  migratton  of,  to  rural 
districts,  33. 

Scharf;  J.  T.,  Hietory  of  St.  Louie,  28. 

Schenectady,  New  Ywk,  rapid  growth 


-  i 


400 


IND|S 


of  population  In.  during  iMt  deckde, 
28. 

Scltoob,  use  of,  as  polling  places,  141 ; 
advantages  of  the  board  system 
in  the  administration  of,  266-257. 

Schurs,  Carl,  on  the  importance  of 
personnel  in  city  government,  378. 

Bcroggs,  W.  O.,  "Commission  Oovem- 
ment  in  the  South,"  29dn. 

Seattle,  rapid  int  '  -ase  in  population  of, 
since  1900,  26;  extension  of  merit 
system  in,  276;  use  of  recall  in, 
3«5». 

Separation  of  powers,  the  principle 
of,  introduced  after  the  Revolution, 
7;  its  vicious  effects  upon  the  or- 
ganisation of  local  government, 
8;  its  application  to  the  authority 
of  city  coimcils,  205;  disregarded 
in  the  commission  plnn  of  dty 
government,  294;  its  merits  and 
defects  as  a  working  principle,  315. 

Sewer  department,  liability  of  the 
municipal  corporation  for  the  torts 
of  employees  in,  96. 

Sexes,  distribution  of  national  popula- 
tion according  to,  29-30. 

Shambaugh,  B.  F.,  Committion  Oov- 
emmtnt  in  Iowa,  301n. 

Shaw,  Albert,  Local  OoMrnmtnt  in 
Ittinoia,  27. 

Short  ballot,  need  for  and  merits  of, 
145-147.    See  also  BaUot. 

Short  Ballot  Organisation,  aims  and 
work  of  the,  362. 

Siouasat,  St.  O.  L.,  Baltimore,  28. 

Sites,  0.  M.  L.,  Centraliud  Adminit- 
tration  of  the  lAguor  Law*  in  Ameri- 
ean  Commenwealthe,  75n. 

Slavs,  influx  of,  to  American  cities,  33. 

Snavdy.  C,  Hittory  of  the  City  Ooe- 
emment  of  CUtdand,  13n,  28. 

South  Cartdina,  exclusion  of  negroes 
from  suffrage  in  the  cities  irf,  113. 

South  Dakota,  admission  of  non-citi- 
sens  to  voting  rights  in,  107. 

South  Park  Commissioners,  in  Chicago, 
appointed  by  judges  of  Cook 
County,  247. 

Spatiing,  S.  E.,  Uunieipal  Hilary  and 
PreeetU  Oraanieation  of  the  City  of 
Chicago,  28. 

Spencer,  D.  E.,  Local  Chnemment  ui 
Wiecontin,  27. 

Spoils  ssrstem,  genesis  of  the,  12;  early 
attacks  on,  17;  relation  of,  to  re- 
movals from  office,  249-250.  See 
also  Merit  System. 

Spokane,  Washington,  raiMd  growth  in 


population  of,  during  last  decade. 
26;  use  of  system  of  preferential 
voting  in.  148. 

Spragu< .  H.  H.,  The  City  ChnemmeiU 
of  Uotton,  ite  Bite  and  Deaelopment, 
28. 

Staunton,  Virginia,  administrative  ex- 
periments in,  317n. 

Steffens,  Lincoln,  The  Struggle  for  Stif- 
Ootemment,  179. 

Stephenson.  G.  T.,  tace  DieHnctione 
in  American  Law,  113n. 

Stimson,  F.  J.,  federal  and  State  Con- 
ttilulione  of  the  United  Slate*,  325n. 

St.  Louis,  state  control  of  municipal 
poliee  established  in  (1861),  15; 
administrative  changes  in.  during 
early  seventies,  16-17;  strength 
of  the  foreign-bom  element  in  the 
population  of,  33;  present  poliee 
commisBonin.75;  retains  bicam««l 
council,  185;  House  of  Delegates 
in,  188 ;  length  of  mayor's  term  in, 
213;  popular  election  of  various 
administrative  officials  in,  245f»; 
present  relations  of  state  to  dty  in, 
236-247;  number  of  administr»- 
tive  departments  in,  261 ;  dvie 
betterment  organisations  of,  364; 
Civio  League  of,  370;  City  Club 
of,  375. 

Streets,  liatality  of  munidpal  corpwa- 
tions  for  the  torts  of  employees  in 
the  department  of.  96-97.' 

Strong,  Jodah,  The  Twentieth  Century 
City,  45fi. 

Suffrage,    fet  Electorate. 

Sumner,  Charles,  begins  fight  against 
qpoils  system,  17. 

Switserland,  use  of  direct  legislation 
in.  103.  324. 

Tacoma.  Washington,  use  of  the  recall 
in,  356. 

Taxation,  rdation  of.  to  legal  reddenet, 
111-112;  relation  of.  to  voting 
rights.  114-115;  evadon  of.  by 
those  assessed  for  poll-taxes  only, 
121;  powers  of  dty  councils  with 
reference  to,  200. 

Tennessee,  payment  of  p<dl-taxes  a  pi»> 
requidte  for  voting  in,  114. 

Terms  of  office,  for  hesds  of  depait- 
mants,  257-268 ;  for  commissionen, 
302-303.  See  also  Appointments. 
Removals,  Merit  System. 

Texas,  admission  of  non-dtisens  to 
voting  ri^ts  in.  107;  legidatura 
of,   providss  oominission   plan  of 


INDEX 


401 


coyenunent    for    Oalveitoii,    2WV- 
297. 

Thayer,  J.  B.,  Com*  en  Coiutilutional 
Law.SS. 

ThompMn,  8.  D.,  Caim  on  Municipal 
NegKomet,  98. 

Tooqueville,  Alexia  de,  viewi  of,  on 
iuffrace  eztenaioiia,  12;  Demoeracy 
in  Amtriea,  11,  124;  on  the  im- 
portance of  the  penooael  in  admin- 
iatration,  308. 

Tolman,  W.  H.,  JViuiiei|»Z  Btform 
Moiement  in  Iht  VnHtd  StatM, 
385. 

Torta,  liability  of  the  municipal  cor- 
poration for,  91-99. 

Treasurer,  office  of,  in  colonial  boroughs, 
4 ;  poat  of,  made  elective  in  Phila- 
delphia (1854),  13. 

Trenton,  New  Jeiaey,  firat  chartw  of 
(1746),  2. 

Tweed,  W.  M.,  Tammany  bow  of  New 
York  City,  hia  dependence  upon 
the  illiterate  element  of  the  voters. 
120. 

Tweed  Ring,  in  New  York  City,  ito 
operations,  15-10. 

Tyson,  Robert,  "Preferential  Votins." 
149. 

Utah,  provisions  for  direct  legislation 
in  constitution  of,  327n. 

Veto,  mayoral,  iU  appearance  after 
the  Revcdution,  8-9;  first  appear- 
anne  of,  in  municipal  charters, 
203-209;  mayoral,  procedure  in, 
223-:<26.    Sm  also  Mayor. 

Voters.    Sm  Ekctorate. 

Voters'  lists.  Sm  Registration  of 
Voters. 

Voting,  qualifications  for.  in  American 
cities,  102-124. 

WAKAKAxn,  Jonr,  Sptiehm  on  Quay- 

iim  and  Bo—  Domination  m  Pkila- 

delpKia  Politie$,  179. 
Wards,  system  of  election  Iqr,  190-191 ; 

its  mvits  and  defects,  191-194. 
Wash   houses,   municipal,   liability  of 

municipal  corpcHmtions  for  torts  of 

employees  in,  96. 


Washington,  educational  tests  for  vot- 
ing in,  112. 
Water  supply,  of  New  York  City,  be- 
fore 1842, 10. 
Weber,  A.  F.,  Th»  Orottik  of  CiH-  im 
tho    Nineteenth    Century,    On.    37. 
35»,  60n,  52. 
West  Virginia,  report  of  commission 
in,  concerning  special  charter  lawa, 
68. 
Whinery,    Samud,    Munieipal   PuNie 
Work*.  244n,  263,  373n,  293;   on 
qualifications  of  department  heads, 
244;    on  methods  of  dealing  with 
municipal  contractors,  273ii. 
Whitten,    R.   H.,   PubUe  Adminietra- 
tion  in  ManacKuaette,  76n. 

Wigmore,  J.  H.,  The  AvtraHan  BaOot 
Syttem,  143n,  152. 

WUcox,  D.  F.,  Uunieipat  Franehieee, 
101 ;  The  Ameriean  City,  124,  200, 
236;  TheOoeemmente/areatAmeri. 
eon  Citiee,  264. 

Williams,  H.  W.,  "The  Refonn  of  our 
Municipal  v  .oncils,"  206. 

Wilson,  J.  O.,  Memorial  Bittory  o/  Ms 
CilyofNewYork,2&. 

Wilson,  Woodiow,  "The  Ihucs  of 
Reform,"  331. 

Wisconsin,  enacts  civil  service  refi»m 
law,  21 ;  public  utilities  commission 
in,  74;  alien  voters  in,  107n;  use 
of  open  primary  in,  131;  merit 
system  of  selecting  certain  city 
emplojrees  in,  275. 

Women  in  industry,  effect  of,  on  urban 
death  rates,  40. 

Women's  suffrage,  123. 

Woodbum,  J.  A.,  PolUieal  ParHet  and 
Party  Problem;  179. 

Woodruff,  C.  R.,  City  Oomnmmt  hy 
Commieeion,  297n,  299n,  319. 

Woolston,  H.  B.,  A  Study  of  the  PepM- 
htion  ef  Manhattantaie,  52. 

Wyoming,  educational  teats  for  votinc 
in,  112. 

ZunuR,  CtuMLM,  Ameritm  Munici- 
pal Progreee,  24n;  A  Dteade  </ 
Ci»ie  Impretemcnt,  24ii. 


^HE  following   pages  contain  adveitisemenu  of 
books  by  the  same  author  or  on  kindred  subjects. 


•  a^HMMMllM 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

The  Government  of  European  Cities 

"The  most  efledive  work  noir  done  in  poUtioU  science  is  that  going  on  in 
the  field  of  apphed  poUtics.  Avoiding  abstract  principles  and  a  prion  speea- 
Uuon,  It  addresses  itself  to  examination  of  the  actual  organization  of  pubUc 
authority  and  of  the  way  in  which  governmental  function  is  carried  out  In 
•The  Government  of  European  C  ties'  (Macmillan),  Prof.  William  Bennett 
Munro  of  Harvard  has  made  a  valuable  addition  to  this  literature.  He  gives 
a  detailed  account  of  the  way  in  which  municipal  government  is  formed  and 
earned  on  m  France,  Germany,  and  England.  The  style  is  clear,  straightfor- 
ward, and  mipretentious,  and  the  treatment  is  stead'Iy  confined  to  the  subject 
in  hand  without  any  attempt  to  point  a  moral  or  ud  a  cause.  At  the  same 
time  references  to  American  municipal  methods  frf  luently  occur  as  incidenU 
of  the  explanation  of  European  procedure,  and  th  «  add  to  the  value  of  the 
book  for  American  readers.  The  writing,  while  succinct,  is  copious  in  detail, 
and  only  admmutrative  experts  in  the  countries  respectively  considered  could 
check  off  all  the  statements  made ;  but  the  work  itself  affords  intrinsic  evidence 
of  Its  painstakug  accuracy.  One  cannot  read  the  book  without  being  deeply 
impressed  by  the  essential  simplicity  of  the  principles  upon  which  European 
mumcipal  government  is  constituted." — The  NoHon. 

"On  the  whole.  Professor  Munro's  book  may  be  fiiirly  characterized  as  the 
most  useful  of  ito  kind  thus  far  published,  because  it  furnishes  the  material  for 
making  comparisons  which  must  ineviubly  disclose  the  true  course  of  numerous 
American  municipal  shortcomings."— &>i  Francisco  Chromcle. 

"This  book  is  distincUy  an  addition  to  our  text-books  on  municipal  admm- 
isteation,  desjHte  the  fact  that  we  have  several  very  good  ones  already.  It  is  a 
book  which  wiU  prove  of  great  benefit  to  the  serious-minded  reader  interested 
m  mumapal  govemmenu ;  but  it  wiH  probably  be  used  mosdy  as  a  reference 
or  text-book  m  coUeges  and  ya&^tts&t*,"— The  Amtritanjournai  of  Sociology. 

"  Cette  «tude  est  tris  ftuctueuse  pour  tous  ceux  qu'intiressent  les  questions 
de  droit  public  coinpar*."  —  SoeUU  Be^  d' Etudes  Cohmales. 

"Dr.  Munro's  book  is  an  indispensable  one  to  the  student  of  municipal 
^vemment  who  would  acquaint  himself  with  the  experience  of  the  world. 
He  modestly  disclaims  any  assumption  of  exhaustiveness,  but  it  certainly  gives 
us  an  admirably  clear  picture  alike  valuable  fijom  its  analytical,  comparatwe. 
and  historical  aspects." — The  Argonaut,  San  Frandsca 


THE   MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

ViAUshraa  64-M  lUlh  AvtuM  »w  Toik 


^mab^tamaMaa^amtmtMmmmM 


GHiiiiusskm  Govemmeiit  in 
American  Cities 

By  ERNEST  S.  BRADFORD,  Ph.D. 

McBbcr  N«tioMl  Maiiki|Ml  LMgM;  SoMtiiM  RMMich  Sebohr  is  Mkieal 

Sctettcc.  L  avcnitjf  of  ^Mieoaiini  FtBow  tai  PoUtkal  Sdtao, 

Uwvcniqr  of  Penaqrhruk;  /otlior  of  "  Mni> 

c^GMLi^ttta(,"tte. 

Of  the  recent  devdopmenti  in  the  field  of  municipal  poUtics,  none  hat 
attracted  more  attention  than  the  introduction  and  rapid  spread  of  the 
commission  form  of  dtjr  government,  to  called  flfom  the  commiaaion  or 
board  which  constitutes  the  governing  body. 

Under  this  plan,  the  organisation  of  a  dty  is  similar  to  that  of  a  bnsi- 
ness  corporation.  This  popular  study  of  one  of  the  greatest  issues  to-day 
before  the  American  people  cmitains  an  account  of  the  rise  and  spread 
of  the  commission  form  of  government  and  the  results  of  its  operation  in 
Galveston,  Houston,  Des  Mmnes,  Cedar  Rapids,  Huntingtm,  Haverhill, 
and  elsewhere. 

Accompanying  this  there  is  a  critical  comparison  of  the  various  types 
of  commission  government  so  &r  standing,  the  principles  invdved,  a  list 
of  the  cities  that  rejected  the  phn,  as  well  as  those  iriiich  have  ad(q>ted 
it,  and  finally  a  discussion  of  the  limitatinis  and  objections  urged  against 
commission  government  There  is  thus  presented  in  this  work  the  moat 
complete  and  up-to-date  history  of  this  fimn  oS  government  and  of  its 
recent  marvelous  development  in  American  municipal  Hfe. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
gaWihwrs  M-«tfiflhAvsBM  VewTosk 


A  GREAT  WORK  INCREASED  IN  VALUE 


The  American  Comnxmwealth 


By  JAMES  BRYCE 


1««  cdltiam  tkOfMgUy  mlNl,  wHk  Ibv  Mv  ektpun 


7^0  8v$v»itmts,  $4^00  m^ 

"More  emphMically  dian  ever  it  it  the  moM  noteworthy  treatiM  on  our 
pdhka!  ud  wcial  lyttem."— TJU  ZMiJ: 

"The  mort  nne  and  ilhiminating  book  that  Lm  been  written  on  this 
country."—  CAie<fg»  Ihhttu. 

"What  makes  it  extremely  interesting  b  that  it  gives  the  matured  views 
of  Mr.  Bryce  after  a  closer  study  of  American  institutions  for  neariy  the 
life  of  a  generation."— &t»  Franeitet  Ckromcie. 

"The  work  is  prutically  new  and  more  indispensable  than  ever."— 
Boston  HeraU. 

"In  its  revised  form,  Mr.  Biyee's  noUe  and  discerning  book  deserves  to 
hold  its  preeminent  place  for  at  least  twenty  years  tosxt:' — Retord-HtriM^ 
Chicago,  HL 

"Mr.  Biyce  could  scarcely  have  conferred  on  the  American  people  a 
greater  benefit  than  he  has  dmie  in  preparing  the  revised  edition  of  hk 
monumental  and  classic  worit,  'The  American  Commonwealth.'"— ibir*« 
Gloit, 

"If  the  writer  of  this  review  wu  to  be  compelled  to  reduce  his  library 
of  Americana  to  five  books,  James  Bryoe's  'American  Commonwealth  •  woaU 
be  one  of  them."— ^fwnnv  TiUgram,  PMbnd,  Ore. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


M-MIUIfeiv 


VewTsik 


The  Government  ci  England 

By  A.  LAWRENCE  LOWELL 

Prcaidtiit  of  Harvud  Univcntly;  FonBcrly  ProfcMnf  o/  Um  Scitaca  ot 
CoTcnuMBt ;  Author  of  "  CokwUd  CM  Swrtea,"  •(& 


latwoTdaaw. 


latk*it^«IBi7M'» 


Mitk' 


Mm  tdilUm,    CMk,  8*0,  $4jeo  m*t 

The  New  York  Sum  calls  it :  — 

'<The  remarkable  work  which  American  readers,  including  even  those  who 
suppose  themaehres  to  be  pretty  well  informed,  will  find  indispensable  .  .  . ; 
it  deserves  an  houored  place  in  every  public  and  private  library  in  the  Ameri- 
can Republic."— M.  W.  H. 

"  Professor  Lowell's  book  will  be  found  by  American  readers  to  be  the  most 
complete  and  inibrming  presentation  of  its  subject  that  has  ever  fallen  in  their 
way.  .  .  .  There  is  no  risk  in  saying  rhat  it  is  the  roost  important  and  valu- 
able study  in  government  and  politics  which  has  been  issued  since  James 
Bryce's  'American  Commonwealth,'  and  perhaps  also  the  greatest  work  of  this 
character  produced  by  an  American  scholar."— ^i/«<*4**w  /WAV  ledger. 

"  It  is  the  crowning  merit  of  the  book  that  it  is,  like  Mr.  Bryce's,  emphati- 
cally a  readable  work.  It  is  not  fanpossible  that  it  will  come  to  be  recognized 
as  the  greatest  work  in  this  fieW  that  has  ever  been  produced  by  an  American 
scholar." — Pittsburg  Fott. 

"The  comprehensiveness  and  range  of  Mr.  Lowell's  work  is  one  of  the 
reasons  for  the  unique  place  of  his '  Government  of  England '  —  for  its  place 
in  a  class  by  itself,  with  no  other  books  either  by  British  or  non-British  authors 
to  which  it  can  be  compared.  Another  reason  is  the  insight,  which  character- 
izes it  throughout,  into  the  spin*  'n  which  Parliament  and  the  other  represen- 
tative institutions  of  England  are  worked,  and  the  accuracy  which  so  generaUy 
characterizes  definite  statements ;  all  contribute  to  make  it  of  Ae  highest 
permanent  value  to  students  of  political  science  tiie  wwld  over."  —  Edwam> 
PoRMTT  in  7%t  Forum. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

KbUahMrs  M-M  FUtt  Avmhm  V«w  Tortl 


oomtt 
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4 


